Earlier this week, we detailed VW’s updates to its ID.4 electric SUV, and now its time for its Skoda cousin, the Enyaq, to share its own good news. Like the ID.4, Skoda’s SUV benefits from improvements to charging times and range, and also performance, thanks to changes to the battery and energy management software.
The good news isn’t spread evenly across the lineup – the entry level Enyaq 60, for instance, is unchanged for 2024, bar a small 3-mile (5 km) improvement in EV range to 249 miles (400 km), though it does gain standard safety kit like speed assist and traffic sign recognition.
But step further up the range where the base car’s 58 kWh battery is swapped for a more substantial 77 kWh version and you really start to feel the benefit of the upgrades. So much so that Skoda has tweaked the model names, replacing the 80 and 80x with the 85 and 85x. The biggest winner is arguably the two-wheel drive 85, which gets a massive 81 hp (82 PS) boost to 282 hp (286 PS), dropping the zero to 62 mph time from 7.5 seconds to 6.7 seconds and adding 14 mph (23 kmh) to the old model’s 99 mph (160 kmh) top speed.
Related: 2024 Skoda Enyaq vRS Is The Brand’s Most Powerful And Quickest Car
The 85 also gains 12 miles (19 km) of electric range and can now do 351 miles (565 km) on a full charge, but it still only accepts a maximum of 135 kW at chargers, so its top-up time drops by only 1 minute to 28 minutes. The all-wheel drive 85x, on the other hand, can handle 175 kW, so charges 8 minutes faster than the old 80x, but strangely needs the same 28 minutes to fill as the 135 kW non-x 85. It also makes 282 hp, though that only represents a 21 hp (21 PS) increase over the old 80x so the 6.6-second sprint time is only 0.2 seconds faster than before. But its EV driving range goes up 11 miles (18 km) to 328 miles (528 km).
Standing at the top of the lineup is the revised Enyaq vRS that we detailed last week. The bi-motor powertrain’s output has climbed from 291 hp (295 PS) to 330 hp (335 PS), which has dramatically improved its off-the-line hustle. The 2024 vRS gets to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds, an entire second faster than before. Its top speed is unchanged at 112 mph but it now stretches a charge to 336 miles (541 km), an increase of 15 miles (24 km) and enjoys the same 175 kW charge upgrade and 8-minute-faster charge time as the 85x.
Though the focus on the 2024 upgrades is the improved battery tech, Skoda has also improved the infotainment system and digital gauge pack, and upped equipment levels. And for buyers who want even more kit the 85 and 85x are available in Edition trim, which brings goodies like regen paddles, heated seats, LED Matrix lights, tri-zone climate and adaptive cruise. Would you take the Enyaq over the mechanically similar VW ID.4?
