Skoda’s electric push starting with PHEVs

Economy king PHEV Superb is just months away and a version of the just-launched new Octavia will follow in early 2022.

The Superb iV delivers optimal economy of 1.5 litres per 100km and just 35 grams per 100km emissions.

PLUG-IN electric versions of two staple Skoda road cars, the Superb and the Octavia, are set to come on sale here.

Each promising up to 60 kilometres’ pure electric range, the derivatives will configure purely in wagon formats and seem likely to be particularly pushed as top choices for Green-minded fleets, though private buyers won’t be exempted.

The nation’s largest lfeet, the NZ Police, has committed to purely petrol-engined Superb station wagons as primary response vehicles.

Skoda New Zealand general manager Rodney Gillard says the PHEV Superb, which will be here around July-August, was not proposed for the patrol car deal but it is serving in that role overseas and was subject of general chat during Monday’s unveiling of the first Superb fitted out with Police equipment and livery.

Skoda NZ general manager Rodney Gillard with the new Octavia, released today in petrol Style and RS formats. The PHEV Octavia iV comes early next year.

He thinks it’s probable Police might like to drive the derivative at some point to compare against the visually similar 162kW front-drive and 206kW all-wheel-drive models set to go on patrol by June, with more than 300 on the front line by year-end.

Running a 1.4-litre petrol engine in tandem with an electric motor, the PHEV has a comparable performance to the Police’s 2.0-litre choices, but wallops them in respect to the efficiency the force claims was a winning factor.

Police have said they like their new cars’ CO2 counts, though these are still well above the 105 grams per kilometre average Government wants to impose and only slightly better than the output from the outgoing Holden ZB Commodore 2.0-litre.

The PHEV Superb is far Greener, with Skoda claiming just 35g/km in optimal operation. Economy is also much sharper, with an optimal 1.5 litres per 100km. 

As much as Police have locked into their patrol car choices, Skoda NZ is engaging in discussion to supply other product.

One subject of conversation is the suitability of another model, thought to be the Kodiaq sports utility, for conversion into dog handler vehicles, to replace the current Holden Acadias and Commodores. Conceivably, then, the iV model might still have a role with the Force.

Identified though having a small additional flap for the battery charge port and a market-new ‘iV’ badge on the boot, the PHEV models will sustain Skoda’s electric push here for the next two years, with Gillard today becoming the second local VW Group brand boss in a week to concede the availability of his brand’s fully electric car, the Enyaq iV crossover, will take longer than planned.

However, he is confident the iV Octavia and Superb wagons will be welcomed just as warmly, saying their availability is due to the Czech make looking favourably at NZ as a good pilot market for the models, to the point where the types’ availability was advanced.

“That’s the start to our roadmap for electric vehicles for Skoda (here).”

The iV cars’ drivetrain marries the engine to a 85kW electric motor fed by a 13kWh battery, running in front-drive format through an automatic transmission.

The combined system maximum power outputs are 152kW for the Octavia and 160kW for the Superb, while the latter’s claimed optimal 400Nm torque is 50Nm more than the Octavia musters.

Zero to 100kmh times are 7.7 seconds for the Octavia and 7.8s for the Superb. Both have the same WLTP-determined electric-only range. 

The Octavia iV is coming early next year to join 110kW/250Nm $47,990 1.4-litre Style and $57,990 180kW/370Nm 2.0-litre RS wagon versions that are releasing into the market now.

Skoda NZ says it’s too early to discuss pricing and local specifications for the iV cars, which have a modest reduction in boot capacity over the ICE editions, on account of where the lithium-ion battery is placed behind the rear seats.

The models are expected to remain popular after Skoda NZ manages to secure the fully electric Enyaq.

Gillard’s thought that this is unlikely to occur until 2023 exactly echoes a message from VW NZ’s general manager Greg Leet a week ago about a sister ship, the ID4.

Confirmation that the ID4 and Enyaq are delayed raises questions about whether two other sister ships promised for NZ - an Audi (the Q4 e-Tron) and a Cupra (called Born) – will also be hindered. 

All are on a new platform, called MEB, that is driving VW Group’s electric car ambition.

VW Group has sole production dibs on the MEB underpinning and appears to have a direct say in determining market release schedules and individual product availabilities for the cars that employ it.

Gillard says that’s not a situation he has experienced before, but it’s one he has to accept.

Accordingly, as much as he will keep pushing for a pre-2023 release, he accepts the greater probability is that this ideal won’t be realised. Quite potentially, too, VW will get its car into market first. 

Meantime, he is focussing on a positive – the big lift that the Police deal gives his brand.

The impact on sales volume will be huge, he says. The sales target of 2200 cars this year is 1000 units above the 2021 actual, which proved 400 units below forecast.  

This has been blamed on Covid-19 supply restrictions that are still being felt, with Skoda’s NZ getting used to its stock reserves being all but depleted at the end of most months.

“We are right now finishing the month with just seven cars in stock … the last three months we’ve been finishing with less than 10 cars in stock.”

 It’s something an industry veteran of almost 30 years has never experienced before.

On top of this, the global shortage of semi-conductors has hurt production of Octavia, as it uses more advanced electronics than other Skoda models (which are not affected by that issue). All this has meant Skoda NZ has managed to secure a small count of new Octavias to launch now, so few it could not stage a driving component for today’s reveal.

 That challenging climate is set to continue – “we have a fluid situation in regard to shipping, supply … there’s a lot going on and I personally see this going on for a while” – yet as much as it might make it harder for walk-ins to secure a car, Gillard assures Skoda’s factories can meet firm customer orders and has the delivery of 101 police cars by June and 353 by year-end in hand.

He says the Police deal will not only almost double Skoda’s market share, but should also lift the brand’s status.

“It’s a defining moment for us. Our challenge is to achieve awareness and consideration.”

Skoda has been a hidden secret and “I think the Police are going to unlock that.” The Superb’s selection will make the general public even more inquisitive about what’s so special about Skoda.

 The other action from Skoda NZ this year will be to launch, at year-end,  a facelift for the Kodiaq.