Skoda Epiq Review

The Skoda Epiq takes the Czech brand’s core values and slathers them on a small electric SUV. That means you’re getting spacious back seats, a huge boot and a steady driving experience, in a car that’s kitted out with clever touches to make daily life a bit easier. In a way, it’s no-nonsense motoring at its best – and it comes complete with Skoda’s latest sharp LED lighting signatures front and rear.

It’ll take you up to 272 miles from the big 55kWh battery (the smaller 40kWh battery version will manage 197 miles), and fast-charge from 10-80% in just 25 minutes.

Inside, the Epiq majors on practicality rather than wow factor. There’s the usual big infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but really it’s more about the impressive space it offers back-seat passengers. The boxy shape helps, and you also get a large 475-litre boot, which outdoes the Kia EV2 by almost 100 litres.

Factor in Skoda’s ‘simply clever’ touches such as an umbrella in the door and an optional EV charging cable bag that attaches to the back of the rear seats and you’ve got a small car that really feels much bigger and more useful for family life than you’d think.

It’s comfortable and refined to drive, but won’t put a smile on your face in corners. But when it makes the rest of your life so easy, who cares?

The Epiq’s cabin can look a little bit grey and boring. Entry-level SE L models come with a grey fabric upholstery that wouldn’t look too out of place on a dolphin plushie. In mid-spec Edition models you can swap it for a grey interior with mint-green trims, which does brighten things significantly, or a brown fake-leather ‘suite’ trim if you want to really posh things up. First Edition cars get lots of orange details, and bright orange seatbelts, which is to be commended.

Regardless of your interior design choices, you get a 13-inch infotainment screen complete with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it’s reasonably responsive to your prods. Sadly, you do have to use the screen to change the temperature – we haven’t got physical temperature controls like in the Skoda Peaq.

A small 5.3-inch screen behind the steering wheel performs speedo duties. It’s clear and concise, and can show you your cruise control and navigation info.

Mid-spec Edition models get heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, as well as a wireless phone charger. They also get two-zone climate control, whereas SE L models get single zone.

Considering the Epiq is only 4.18m long, it’s epically practical. Tall adults can sit behind tall drivers, and there’s plenty of space up-front for the lankier among us.

Back-seat passengers get about two centimetres more legroom than in a Kia EV2, and headroom is fine for our 6’3” test subject. That’s even true for cars with the optional sunroof – which only covers the front seats, but does lower the roof slightly in the back.

The floor in the back of the Epiq is flat, so kids can easily hop across to their seat if you can only open doors on one side of the car. The middle seat is reasonably wide for this size of car, but three adults will find it a real squeeze. 

Two USB-Cs provide power to back-seaters, while they also get door bins that can hold a big bottle of water each. The fold-down centre armrest has a pair of cupholders, which can hold 0.5-litre containers. As usual, Skoda has also hidden an umbrella in one of the front doors to help you avoid getting soaked.

Boot space of 475 litres puts the Epiq almost 100 litres clear of the Kia EV2. It’s a big, deep space that even beats Skoda’s own similarly-sized Kamiq. There’s no load lip to heave heavy objects over and, when you lift the boot floor, you uncover a deep well that can carry big bags or your charging cables. Skoda’s trademark ice scraper is tucked away in the left-hand side of the bootlid itself, and it features a handy tyre-tread depth gauge on one corner.

You can pick two batteries for the Epiq. The entry-level 40 model comes with a 37kWh useable battery that’s good for around 190 miles of driving. The Epiq 55 will be the most popular in the UK and gets a 52kWh useable capacity that can take you up 272 miles. The bigger battery can fast charge at 105kW, so a 10-80% charge takes 24 minutes. Skoda says they could’ve chased a bigger peak charge figure, but instead opted for a lower headline figure that can be maintained for longer.

The Epiq 40 can fast charge at 90kW, taking 23 minutes to get from 10-80%. 

Power outputs vary by battery size – you get 135hp in the Epiq 40 for a 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds, and 211hp in the Epiq 55, which drops the 0-62mph sprint to 7.4 seconds. 

We only drove the 55 model on our Austrian test route. It felt perfectly capable of overtaking traffic on country roads, and sat at (a legal) 80mph happily on two hours of German Autobahn. After that, it returned an efficiency of 4.2 miles/kWh, for a real-world motorway range of 218 miles.

The Epiq feels much like the bigger Elroq and Enyaq to drive, insofar as it’s comfortable around town, in the countryside or on motorways. The suspension deals well with low-speed potholes, and it never feels anything less than planted at motorway speeds. On a rain-soaked Autobahn drive that saw at least one unfortunate BMW owner facing the wrong way after a crash-barrier interface, the Epiq felt locked down.

Its front-wheel-drive setup means it can occasionally scrabble for traction out of junctions, and it never feels interesting or exciting to drive on a twisty road. It just gets the job done without any fuss or annoying wind or tyre noises. It’s also easy to disable the ADAS systems from within the touchscreen.