Skoda Enyaq vRS (2025 – ) Electric review

Skoda’s vRS models have always combined value with sharp looks and strong performance, and so it is with this latest Enyaq version. The inevitable move upmarket has dragged the price up and number crunchers may look at disappointment at the relatively modest horsepower figure when rivals from Smart, MG and others boast more eye-catching numbers. We’ll get to this but call it quality over quantity on that score. More broadly, as a flagship model the vRS will cost you more to buy and run than other Enyaqs but you get what you pay for and it’s very well equipped. Like all electric models if you can buy it as a company car and charge at home you’ll save tons in tax and running costs over a combustion or hybrid equivalent as well.

The Enyaq is built using VW’s electric car ‘toolkit’, shared across all the brands within the wider family so fundamentally the same as equivalents from Cupra and Audi. Strength in numbers hopefully means the tech is proven, earlier wobbles with the infotainment and other electrical glitches seemingly much improved in the VW ID range and related models like this Enyaq.

There’s no shortage of driver assistance technology on modern cars but we’re noticing big differences in how well it works, with what are sometimes disparagingly called ‘legacy’ brands like Skoda using their experience to tune them better than some of the newcomers to the market. The best you can say about the many and various systems the Enyaq has to keep you out of trouble is that you don’t notice they are there, unless you need them. Which is an absolute blessing compared with the endless bongs, chimes and false alarms seen in systems on many rivals, and leaves you to enjoy the vRS’s smooth performance in peace.

While faster and more expensive, the vRS version of the Enyaq loses nothing in space, practicality or typically no-nonsense Skoda usefulness. Little wonder it’s one of our favourite electric family SUVs, and just as popular among owners. For this vRS Skoda has even found a way around the usual compromises in terms of tyre noise and ride quality sportier models often suffer from with their stiffer suspension and bigger wheels. Indeed, you can customise where you want the car to land on the comfy to sporty spectrum via a simple 15-step slider on the touch-screen, there being a meaningful difference as you go from the softest suspension to the stiffest depending on tastes, the kind of road you’re on and whether you’re in the mood to chill or enjoy a sharper driving experience. The vRS also gets its own dedicated trim packages, both of which are a little dark and gloomy even with the extra logos and flashes of colour. On that basis we’d probably option in the panoramic roof to get a little more light into the interior. As the top-of-the-range model the vRS meanwhile gets all the usually optional Advanced Package and Transport Package goodies as standard, these including cargo nets, variable height boot floor and remote releases if you need to fold the seats down in a hurry.

All Enyaqs are generously equipped, the vRS taking it further and bundling pretty much everything you could wish for with an appealingly sporty garnish of sharper looks and funkier colours on top. This includes the loud and proud Hyper Green we enjoyed when we lived with the previous version of the vRS Coupe. Well, some of us, at least. In for a penny… Other choices include your pick of leather-trimmed vRS Suite interior or the sportier ‘microsuede’ vRS Lounge at no extra charge for either. The vRS also includes the Advanced Package as standard, meaning goodies like 360 camera coverage, a head-up display, thumping CANTON-branded stereo system and funky animated lighting on the grille, or ‘Tech-Deck’ as Skoda would have it. A Winter Package of heated rear seats and windscreen (front seats and wheel are already thus equipped) is one of the few options, the only moan being you also need to pay extra for the range-improving heat pump some rivals offer as standard.

Given some rivals are offering nearly double the 340 horsepower you get on the vRS you might wonder if it really lives up to the sporty image. And, true, if impressing your mates with 0-62mph times is your thing there may be better choices. Where it matters out on the road the power and performance are actually spot-on, though, with enough thrust to make twisty roads fun, overtakes stress-free and fast-moving motorways a breeze without the sense you’re constantly headbutting the horizon. Bravo for that. With motors front and back you also get power to all four wheels, which is confidence inspiring when the roads are greasy. The focus on performance means range suffers a fraction over other top-spec Enyaqs, but it’ll still do just shy of 350 miles by official figures, which is plenty to be going on with. Everything about the vRS inspires confidence as well, the chunky feel to the steering giving a sense of substance while the excellent ride quality and refinement see the miles fly by. All of which can be said of the standard Enyaq as well, of course. This one just does it a tad faster, and in a bit more style.