Europe’s New Big Electric SUV Solves A Problem American Families Know Well

• The Skoda Peaq is a big new electric family SUV with three rows and lots of cargo space.
• It promises impressive range, quick charging, and can even power devices or a home.
• It brings new premium features to Skoda, including a smart glass roof and a lounge-like cabin.

Skoda is putting the finishing touches on its largest model ever, the Peaq fully electric three-row SUV. It’s set to be unveiled this summer and go on sale in Europe before the end of the year, but until then, this is our best look at the new Skoda flagship inspired by the Vision 7S concept.

The headline figures for the Peaq are all related to its size. It can seat up to seven people, but in its five-seater configuration, it has a maximum trunk volume of 35.7 cu-ft (1,010 liters). The seven-seater variant still has a respectable 10.6 cu-ft (299 liters) of room behind the third row, complemented by a 1.3 cu-ft (37-liter) frunk.

At around 192 inches (4.87 meters) long, it is 10 inches (25 cm) longer than Skoda’s current largest EV, the Enyaq. This makes it slightly smaller than one of its direct rivals, the Kia EV9, which is 5.5 inches (14 cm) longer.

Photo by: Skoda

Like the Enyaq, the Peaq is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, but its longer wheelbase allows it to carry a bigger battery pack. The long-range version has a 91-kilowatt-hour (86 kWh usable) pack, giving it a WLTP range of 373 miles (600 km), while the base 63 kWh battery (with 61 kWh usable) is enough for 286 miles (460 km).

The large battery allows for charging at up to 195 kilowatts, which is less than half of what something like the new BMW iX3 can take. This is because, unlike the BMW, which rides on a new 800-volt architecture, the Peaq makes do with 400 volts.

Charging from 10-80% takes 28 minutes in the long-range model and 27 minutes with the standard battery, even if the latter has a lower peak charging power rating.

Bidirectional charging is standard on the Peaq, with vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, and, when paired with a special wallbox charger, it also enables vehicle-to-home (V2H), allowing it to supply an entire building with power if needed.

The base Peaq with the small battery will come with a single 201-horsepower motor driving the rear wheels. The large-battery single-motor variant bumps power to 282 hp, while the range-topping dual-motor doesn’t add a lot more power (295 hp), giving it a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) acceleration time of 6.7 seconds.

The Peaq will not only become the biggest Skoda ever made, but it will also bring several firsts for the manufacturer. It’s the first with an electrochromic glass roof that can be turned opaque, it’s the first with flush door handles and wiper blades with built-in washers that use fluid more efficiently.

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Source: Skoda

Another first is what Skoda calls the ‘Relax Package,’ which adds ergonomic massaging seats with leg rests paired with a premium Sonos sound system and a wellness app that turns the cabin into ‘a lounge on wheels.’

It features an Android-based infotainment system with a portrait-style 13.6-inch central screen, along with plenty of native apps, including Google Maps and YouTube. In front of the driver, there’s a 10-inch display complemented by an augmented-reality head-up display that we’ve already seen in other VW Group products.

The Peaq will be built at Skoda’s home factory in Mlada Boleslav, Czechia, and will join its lineup of electric models later this year, with pricing still to be announced.