Skoda Enyag iV Coupé vRS

FIRST UK DRIVE Is electric SUV worthy of sporty badge?

- Matt Robinson

There's an interesting divide between the approaches of Skoda and Volkswagen when it comes to labelling their hot EVs. While VW has repurposed the GTX badge for go-faster versions of the ID.4 and ID.5 - instead of using its sacred GTI tag Skoda sticks its vRS branding on various parts of the fastest Enyaq Coupé, and soon the equivalent Enyaq SUV.

It makes some degree of sense. The VRS badge is applied on a variety of fast Skodas, including reasonably swift diesels and plug-in hybrids, as well as quick petrol models. And the statistics of the Enyaq Coupé VRS certainly seem to warrant the badge, with the 295bhp twin-motor powertrain delivering a 0-62mph time of 6.5 seconds.

As with the rest of the Enyaq line-up, power comes from an 82kWh battery (77kWh useable), giving an official range of up to 309 miles. In reality, you can expect more like 250-270 miles. A 10-80 percent top-up is possible in 36 minutes thanks to 135kW charging, but some rivals do better in this regard.

For all this, Skoda is expecting customers to hand over some £54,370. Thankfully, as well as the extra performance, you get additional standard equipment, including 20-inch wheels, acoustic glass, matrix LED lights, and an illuminated grille. Is the latter impressive or ostentatious? We'll leave that up to you to decide.

The Enyaq Coupé vRS is a couple of tenths faster than a petrol Octavia VRS from 0-62mph, but from the driving seat it doesn't feel that quick. You brace for that typical EV instant hit of searing acceleration, only to find such measures are unnecessary. It feels reasonably punchy up to about 30mph, but less so beyond that.