2027 Skoda Epiq review: Quick drive

Czech auto brand Skoda is in a healthy position right now, having got through the first reporting period of the Australian Government's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) without accruing any emissions liabilities.

That means it can continue to sell combustion-powered cars to customers eager to stick with traditional propulsion – but nevertheless it will strengthen its position by doubling its electric vehicle (EV) range from two model lines to four.

So, joining the Elroq and Enyaq electric SUVs, hopefully before 2027 is out, will be a large, seven-seat, zero-emissions SUV flagship known as the Peaq, and the car you see here: the Skoda Epiq.

The compact electric SUV promises to be one of the smallest and most affordable cars you can buy from Skoda, sharing its underpinnings with the likes of the Volkswagens ID. Polo and ID. Cross, and the Cupra Raval.

And despite its SUV body and EV status, the only Skoda model the Epiq is bigger than is the Fabia hatch – and even then, there’s not a lot in it.

Available with two battery pack sizes and a choice of electric motor outputs, the Epiq is designed to offer the Skoda brand's long-held corporate traits of sector-leading practicality and civilised driving manners, in an EV marketplace awash with aggressively priced Chinese competitors.

To find out if the Epiq can stand tall among these rivals, we headed to the Austro-German border to sample the Skoda in the Alps.

How much does the Skoda Epiq cost?

Skoda Australia has not yet confirmed pricing, but you can expect the Epiq to come in below the Elroq’s opening ticket of $48,990 before on-road costs.

Whether it will be as cheap as the entry-level Kamiq, the 85kW 1.0 TSI Select at $31,990 plus on-roads, remains to be seen, but it should certainly be in the $30-40k bracket.

Skoda hopes the Epiq, along with the Peaq at the other end of the brand's EV lineup, will drive its zero-emission vehicle sales to new heights next year.

In the first half of 2026, the Elroq and Enyaq accounted for around 700 units in our market, and Skoda is on target to achieve another 1300 sales in the third and fourth quarters.

After that, the Epiq should play a crucial role in driving Skoda to 2500 EV sales in 2027 and beyond.

What is the Skoda Epiq like on the inside?

High-quality materials, an endless array of Skoda’s proprietary ‘Simply Clever’ features and interior storage solutions, plus healthy amounts of space and neatly integrated, none-too-infuriating tech are the main talking points of the cabin in the Epiq EV.

The main interface is handled by a 13-inch Android-based touchscreen infotainment system, supplemented by a tidy and effective 5.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

Sure, almost all the main climate controls are on the central screen, but there are a handful of physical shortcut buttons arranged on the Epiq’s centre stack – including a climate master switch to access the menu quickly, plus front defrost and heated rear screen buttons too.

Graphically, the multimedia system is sharp and its response rates crisp, so there are no major dramas with that.

Beyond the tech, the dashboard of the Epiq is easy on the eye and everything you touch feels like it's made of premium materials.

Storage facilities abound, including bottle-swallowing door pockets fore and aft, cupholders up front and in the centre-rear armrest, under-dash stowage zones, and a well-proportioned glovebox too.

Further, you’ll find an umbrella stashed in the driver’s door and an ice scraper mounted in the boot, both part of the Simply Clever array of helpful features.

There’s also a good amount of space in the rear for taller passengers, although despite the Skoda’s floor being completely flat, the idea of seating three grown-ups across the back bench seems a little fanciful because of the lack of width.

As you’d expect with a Skoda, the 475-litre boot is a whopper, and it includes a voluminous under-floor storage well.

Fold the 60/40-split rear seatbacks down and 1345L is yours to play with, while a 25L frunk is due to arrive later in the production run.

However, beyond a couple of bag hooks on either side, and obviously discounting its sheer size, the Epiq’s boot isn’t the most versatile cargo bay in the automotive world.

What's under the bonnet?

The three confirmed launch variants for the Skoda Epiq are the 35, the 40 and the 55. All of these are front-wheel drive.

The 35 and the 40 use a smaller battery and have the same peak torque of 267Nm, but the 40 is a little more potent at 99kW, as opposed to the 35’s output of 85kW.

Skoda quotes a 0-100km/h time of 11 seconds for the 35 and 9.8 seconds for the 40, with both topping out at 150km/h.

The 55 gains a bigger battery for more range, while it also sees a significant increase in power to 155kW, along with torque massaged to 290Nm.

This reduces the claimed 0-100km/h time to 7.1 seconds, while also raising the nominal top speed a tad to 160km/h.

In the Epiq 35 and 40 is a 37kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack. This provides a maximum quoted range of 310km, no matter which version you go for, and has 11kW AC charging – so expect a 10-100 per cent top-up to take bang on four hours.

The peak DC fast-charge rates vary quite a bit, though, with the 35 topping out at 50kW, while the 40 can charge at up to 90kW. This means the 10-80 per cent charging cycle at public units requires 33 minutes with the 85kW Skoda and just 25 minutes for the Epiq 40.

Meanwhile, the Epiq 55 switches to a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery of 52kWh, boosting its range to 441km.

The same 11kW AC rate means a 5.5-hour 10-100 per cent charging cycle at home, but at a 105kW DC rate the 55 can go from 10-80 per cent in 24 minutes, making it the fastest-charging Epiq of the three.

How does the Skoda Epiq drive?

It aces ride comfort and rolling refinement, which you’d expect of a Skoda, and an electric Skoda at that, but it also comes with an unexpected and most welcome level of agility and fluid handling dynamics.

For everyday driving duties, there’s little to complain about. On rougher surfaces and at higher speeds, there’s a trace more tyre chatter than is desirable, but that might only be evident because the Epiq damps both wind and suspension noise so effectively.

Part of the reason it’s so hushed at cutting through the air, by the way, is because the EV’s coefficient of drag is as low as 0.275Cd.

Throw in comfortable, cushioned suspension, even when the Skoda is on its largest 19-inch alloys – and the sort of composed control that prevents this SUV from feeling soggy and uncontrolled on lumpier surfaces – and the only conclusion you can come to is that the Epiq will be a delight for easing away the stresses of the daily grind.

It excels both in and around town, and out on the open road and highways too.

What’s most surprising, though, is how graceful the Epiq feels in the corners if you start to throw it around a little. Body lean is minimal and the steering is pleasingly geared, while a kerb weight of only 1.7 tonnes (relatively light, for an electric SUV, even a small one) ensures there’s a nimbleness to the Skoda that’s rewarding.

Granted, there will be much more overtly sporty and engaging cars based on this same platform, such as the Cupra Raval VZ and Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI, so don’t go thinking the 155kW Epiq is some kind of Skoda RS in disguise.

But among its compact, zero-emissions SUV rivals, the Czech machine is clearly one of the better-sorted and satisfying products of its type to drive.

It's quick enough, too, with this 155kW/290Nm powertrain of the 55 model. And yet, it’s not the way the Epiq easily gains speed that impresses us the most here; it’s the way it sheds it.

When we drove a prototype Cupra Raval earlier this year we opined that the brakes, with discs on the rear axle for the first time on any Volkswagen Group EV, felt the most natural, progressive and glorious of almost any electric car – at any price – we’d driven up to that point.

Well, the Epiq carries on that excellent work. In terms of stopping power, reassurance and pedal feel, the braking system on this Skoda EV is one of the dynamic highlights of the car.

What do you get?

We don’t have cast-iron details about Australian specs at the moment, but from the European cars we drove it’s reasonable to assume the Skoda Epiq should have a good deal of the following equipment fitted as standard here, if not all of it.

2027 Skoda Epiq equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights, DRLs and tail-lights
• Heated and power-adjustable door mirrors
• 13-inch Android infotainment touchscreen
• 5.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• Two-spoke multifunction steering wheel
• LED ambient cabin lighting
• Keyless go
• Single-zone climate control
• Adaptive cruise control
• Rear parking sensors
• Light and rain sensors
• Variable boot floor

Is the Skoda Epiq safe?

Although neither ANCAP nor its Euro NCAP affiliate have assessed the Skoda Epiq yet, there’s no reason to expect the Czech EV to be unsafe.

It’s highly likely it will pick up a full five-star rating when it is eventually evaluated, thanks to a standard advanced driver assistance system kit list that includes front assist, side assist, rear traffic alert, exit warning, lane assist, predictive speed limiter, intelligent speed assist, traffic sign recognition, and upgraded driver monitoring, among more.

How much does the Skoda Epiq cost to run?

As an EV, the Skoda Epiq will naturally be cheap to run, as evidenced by its real-world efficiency. During our 180km test drive from Austria back into Germany and Munich, including a long section of Autobahn running at 130km/h and more, the Epiq 55 managed to return an indicated 13.5kWh/100km – better than the official figure of 13.7kWh/100km.

Even more astonishingly, for the first 50km or so of this trek, it actually achieved an astounding 6.0kWh/100km. Admittedly, this initial stellar number was assisted by mainly descending from the Austrian Tirol down to the German border, but it was still a fabulous display of parsimony from the Epiq that suggests careful, daily driving should see owners getting close to the official 441km range figure, more often than not.

Throw on top of that Skoda Australia’s seven-year, unlimited-distance warranty, as well as two years’ worth of roadside assistance that is automatically extended by another 24 months after every scheduled service of an EV at an official Skoda dealer, and the Epiq looks like a seriously tempting proposition for buyers seeking one of the most economical forms of modern motoring.

CarExpert's Take on the Skoda Epiq

A typically highly polished effort from Skoda with its new Epiq results in what is immediately one of the best compact electric SUVs on the market.

It does many things very well indeed and, as long as the pricing is right for our market, the Epiq should be able to cut through a lot of its Chinese rivals, none of which drive with anything like the assured nature of this brilliant new Czech EV.

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