We are officially transitioning into the age of electric vehicles, and all major automakers are working hard to ensure they are not left out. They are adding electric-powered vehicles to their lineups at a high rate. They aim to electrify large portions of their fleets in the next few years. So have even announced ambitious plans to go fully electric lineups within five years.
Skoda has even more ambitious goals, abandoning the popular plug-in hybrids and directing all resources in developing fully-electric vehicles. Currently, the Enyaq is their only fully electric offering, with the Citigo electric no longer in production. However, Skoda plans to add three smaller EVs to the lineup. Now, Skoda has added a high-performance Enyaq RS variant to the lineup, and it looks like a strong contender for the best Skoda car ever made. Here's everything we know about the Skoda Enyaq Coupe vRS.
10 First All-Electric vRS Ever
Skoda has featured a vRS for the UK market and RS badges on their high-performance models to showcase their status. The RS, or Rally Sport, has been n use since the 180RS of the 70s, and in recent times it has appeared on the performance version of the Skoda Octavia. The RS badge goes fully electric with the Enyaq Coupe RS for the first time.
The RS badge comes with great expectations from a performance perspective. Still, going by the released figures, the Enyaq Coupe RS is gearing to meet the high-performance standard set by one of the top rallying manufacturers.
9 Built On Volkswagen’s MEB Modular EV Platform
One advantage of being a Volkswagen subsidiary is that you get the best of their technological advancements, with cars sharing plenty of features across the board. Skoda's flagship Enyaq Coupe vRS is closely related to the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX. It is built on Volkswagen group's MEB modular EV architecture.
The Enyaq Coupe vRS will be powered by an exclusive 82kWh battery pack, Volkswagen's largest unit yet. The maximum range is yet to be confirmed, but the manufacturer claims a top range of 339 miles in the WLTP cycle.
8 Powertrain Options And Performance
The Enyaq Coupe vRS runs on two electric motors, one on each axle, sending power to all four wheels. These will punch out a combined 299 horsepower and 340lb-ft of torque. These numbers are much higher than the 242 hp and 295lb-ft of torque produced by another recently released high-performance Skoda, the Octavia vRS iV plug-in hybrid. Thus, the Enyaq can launch to 62 mph in just 6.5 seconds, with a 111 mph top speed.
As for battery performance, the 82kWh battery will charge from 10% to 80% in only 29 minutes.
7 Exterior Tweaks
The Skoda Enyaq Coupe vRS features a sloping roofline, a sculpted hood, a wider air dam, and an illuminated grille with 131 LEDs in a Crystal Face package that comes standard in the vRS, with a pair of sleek matrix LED headlights standing out. The roofline slopes from the blackened B-Pillar and neatly merges into the tailgate to offer an expressive design, which shows this isn't just a rebadged Enyaq SUV, but one with a new level of styling.
Other tweaks include a shark-fin antenna, a raked windscreen, and wrap-around LED taillamps. The vRS elegant lines are rounded off with the exclusively reserved Mamba Green color option.
6 Enyaq vRS Interior
The classic Skoda interior trim levels have been replaced with the exclusive Design Selection' vRS Suite', which offers a novel and clear structure of the available choices. The sports seats are made of black perforated leather with gray piping and contrasting stitching, which matches the dashboard. Pedals feature an aluminum design, with carbon fiber-effect decorative strips donning the dashboard and door trim.
The Enyaq Coupe vRS will come standard with a full panoramic glass roof. The center console is finished in piano black, and there are ambient lighting strips on the door trims and dashboard. There are up to ten optional packages to go with, like the 'Seating Comfort' that adds electric seat adjustment and a massage function.
5 Most Powerful Skoda Model
The Enyaq vRS is by some distance the most powerful Enyaq model, seeing it features a superior powertrain, which also makes it the most powerful production Skoda yet. It was also built from a sports chassis and is much more dynamic than the base Enyaq. Ride height is 15mm lower at the front and 10mm at the rear. But surprisingly, its coefficient of drag is slightly higher than the non-RS Enyaq Coupe.
Although not many owners will be using their Enyaq vRS to tow loads, it still has a better towing capacity than its non-RS siblings. It can tow up to 3086 pounds, 440 pounds more than the 80 and 60 trims.
4 Driver Assistance Systems
Skoda is big on safety, and the Enyaq Coupe vRS is packed with plenty of safety equipment. These include nine airbags, driver assistance systems like adaptive cruise control, adaptive lane assist, traffic jam assist, collision warning 360-degree camera, pedestrian protection, and more.
The vRS comes with Matrix LED headlamps that lower glare from oncoming traffic. Also, you get a head-up display with augmented reality that displays information on two different areas of the screen, which projects the most important information above the dashboard, in sight of the driver.
3 Precedes Non-RS Models
In most instances, manufacturers release the most powerful trim after the base model has already hit the market. Still, in the Skoda Enyaq Coupe vRS case, the high-performance variant will precede the regular non-RS version, which will come out a couple of months after RS has been on sale.
Skoda has urged interested buyers to book the Coupe RS because the initial batch will go on sale soon, and they might have to wait longer for the base model. Booking was open from February 17th in the UK, with deliveries beginning in July.
2 Production And Cost Facts
Skoda's first all-electric vRS won't come cheap. It will start at over $67,000, which places it in the same price bracket as Tesla's Model Y Long Range. This flagship will also be Skoda's most expensive production car ever.
Production began on February 14th at Skoda's mother plant in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic. Each day the 2000 strong workforce at the plant will churn out 120 units of the Enyaq coupe iV, alongside the Enyaq iV, Octavia, and Octavia iV.
1 Skoda Enyaq Coupe VRS Rivals
There isn't a lack of all-electric crossovers and SUVs in the global market, which means the Enyaq Coupe RS will be pitted against some capable rivals. The similarly priced Tesla Model Y is a great blend of performance, range, and practicality. Still, buyers have aired frustration from the Model Y's inconsistent build quality despite the high base price.
The closest Enyaq RS rival is its distance cousin, the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX, which has similar underpinnings but will cost a little less than the Enyaq Coupe vRS. However, both will sadly not make it into the US market.