Skoda Vision IV Concept previews future production electric SUV
Skoda has its own MEB-based electric SUV at Geneva, and it’s a BMW X6-style ‘coupe’
Skoda has revealed an electric SUV concept at the Geneva motor show called the Vision IV. It’s an electric SUV based on the VW Group’s new MEB platform and previews an incoming production version, which will shortly follow a more traditional SUV-bodied model and go on to headline Skoda’s push to offer ten electric or hybrid models by 2022.
The new styling elements introduced on this concept should transition relatively unchanged when the first MEB-based models go into production, and form an aggressive new Skoda design language that will spread across both its BEV and IC models.
> Click here for our preview of at the 2019 Geneva motor show
The first and most distinctive of these elements is the full width front light bar that connects the headlights, through a solid grille motif with Skoda’s trademark vertical slats. Without the usual cooling requirements, Skoda’s designers have had to approach the issue of translating the marque’s identity into a new package while still retaining Skoda’s distinctive aesthetic.
The brand’s crisp, angular surfacing is evident, but along the flanks this Vision IV shows a subtle roundness sitting above and below the main character line, informing the clamshell bonnet and level front and rear haunches. The steeply raked front and rear screens and cab-forward silhouette do hint at the Tesla Model X, but is also a telltale element of the electrified underpinnings.
Powering the striking new model is the same battery and electric motor set up also seen over at the Audi stand underneath the Q4 e-tron – so that’s two electric motors, one on each axle, powering all four wheels. Power is quoted as 302bhp with a range of around 300 miles on the WLTP cycle, achieved via the 82kWh battery pack slipped underneath the cabin. Skoda quotes a 0-62mph time of 5.9sec, with a 112mph top speed.
This, of course, is still considered a concept, and the interior specifically points towards this fact, but the overall architecture should also reach production unchanged, with the massive central floating touchscreen dominating the interior, not dissimilar to something like the Tesla Model 3. What the Vision IV does offer is a dedicated display in front of the driver, which will only display essential information such as speed, trip and navigation.
We expect the Vision IV to reach production in 2020, shortly after the first wave of MEB products from Skoda, VW, Audi and SEAT appear.
