Skoda is engaged on a seven-seat huge brother to the Enyaq SUV that might hit showrooms by 2026, and the Imaginative and prescient 7S idea provides us an enormous clue to the way it will look.
The three-row electrical idea will result in a manufacturing SUV that’s one in all three EVs on account of be launched by Skoda within the subsequent few years. Two of these shall be a small hatchback and a small crossover, however the Imaginative and prescient 7S shall be Skoda’s flagship and has its sights set on the house at present occupied by the Kodiaq, although the 2 fashions are prone to overlap initially.
It is going to be based mostly on the identical MEB electrical platform discovered underneath the agency’s Enyaq EV, in addition to different VW household electrical automobiles just like the Volkswagen ID.4 and Audi This fall e-tron. Skoda says the idea options an 89 kWh battery that offers a variety of greater than 373 miles (600 km), however it’s how lengthy that battery takes to cost that’s attention-grabbing. The utmost charging fee accessible to Enyaq drivers is 120 kW, however Skoda says the 7S can cost at a extra aggressive 200 kW, although even that determine is bettered by Korean rivals.
Associated: Skoda Previews The Inside Of The Imaginative and prescient 7S Idea
Whereas getting us used to the concept of a bigger electrical SUV, the Imaginative and prescient 7S’s different fundamental perform is to showcase Skoda’s new “fashionable strong” design language, and likewise its new branding. The 7S ditches the standard black and silver Skoda badge for silver lettering above the grille selecting out the model identify.
However the brand new badging is the least putting function of the 7S’s design, which is dominated by the seven vertical slots within the entrance and rear bumpers that make it appear to be the idea is auditioning for the position of Bane in a remake of the Darkish Knight Rises. Or perhaps Skoda’s designers merely spent too lengthy photos of Jeeps on their temper board.
Above the bumper slots is a pair of slim headlights that rise to fulfill ultra-slim horizontally-mounted DRLs, whereas the corporate’s trademark entrance grille form is carried over from present vehicles to make them simply identifiable, however this time incorporates a darkish glass display screen quite than grille bars. Skoda calls the brand new face Tech Deck and claims it provides the 7S an impression of power. However it additionally appears to be like distinctly premium, as does the surely-Vary Rover-influenced rear styling.
The idea’s 22-inch wheels may make it to manufacturing however the suicide rear doorways and lack of a B-pillar are nearly sure to be left on the drafting board, together with at the very least among the 7S’s inside options. One that may make it’s a roof mounted digicam that may relay photographs of a child in a rear-facing youngster seat to the infotainment show within the dashboard. Skoda has additionally mounted the child seat on the middle tunnel within the idea as a result of it claims it’s the most secure place for it.
However one of many extra attention-grabbing options that even child-free house owners may recognize, significantly given the lower than class-leading charging fee, is the dual-configuration inside’s “loosen up” mode. Press a button on the console and the 14.6-inch portrait touchscreen rotates to make it extra appropriate for watching films, the oblong steering wheel and dashboard slide ahead to create more room for front-seat occupants, and people entrance seats rotate inwards and recline. Being caught at an EV charging level for half-hour wouldn’t appear so unhealthy while you’re spending it in a cabin as nicely thought-out at this one.