Skoda Elroq RS review

The Skoda Elroq RS combines a 79kWh battery with two motors producing 340hp and 545Nm, but it’ll also massage your back.

As a hardcore, dyed-in-the-wool car obsessive, it can sometimes be easy to fall victim to the scare-mongering of the EV takeover. That electric cars are coming to rid us of our beloved ICE cars or banish us from ever enjoying an experience behind the wheel again. The simple reality is that’s not true. As not only a car enthusiast but an optimistic one at that, I like to view cars similar to dogs; I don’t want any to be bad. So when Skoda offered me its all-electric Elroq RS to live with for a few weeks, I jumped at the opportunity.

At first glance, I liked the Mamba Green paint, but wasn’t entirely convinced it suited this car; it seemed a bit loud. Sitting into it, it felt nice, but most new cars will feel nice when the majority of your fleet is on classic tax. However, it took just a few minutes to see that the Elroq RS might be a step above what I had expected.

There’s no getting around it, the interior is just a place you want to spend time in. The seats are inviting, they’re high-backed, have big bolsters and are trimmed in what Skoda calls microsuede. As you’d expect, they, along with the steering wheel, are heated, with the driver’s side also featuring a massage function. As someone with a chronically sore back, I could manage an impressive number of hours behind the wheel with no pain or fatigue, score one to the EV.

A different driving experience

The silence behind the wheel is a new experience; coupled with the lack of vibration, it transforms commuting and traffic. Part of this is thanks to double-glazed windows and the welcome omission of a panoramic roof. These combine to leave you feeling well insulated from the outside world, meaning you can more easily enjoy a podcast without stress testing the speakers.

A performance crossover can sometimes be a bone of contention, with or without an electric powertrain, the idea that a car can be either but not both. Expectedly, the Elroq RS is fast, faster than its power figures would suggest. Any speed limit is achieved with remarkable ease mere moments after pressing the go pedal. Even when the road ahead gets twisty, the RS is plenty competent, however there’s only a short amount of time between being impressed at the handling and starting to feel a bit motion sick. You simply can’t escape the weight and the feeling of mass in motion on various axes.

A ghost in the machine

Sadly, there’s a recurring theme with technology: it’s rarely as clever as it thinks it is, and the Elroq RS falls victim to this, too. The adaptive cruise control had spent all day impressing me, when it misread a speed limit sign and slammed on the brakes on the motorway. This wasn’t ideal, less ideal, however, was when it confused kilometres with miles per hour and attempted to achieve 193kmh by deploying every single one of its 340 horsepower all of its own accord; even worse was that neither of these was an isolated incident.

Surprisingly, this was the only part of the Elroq RS that didn’t fully function as intended. Everything else just worked. And even more than that, I liked it. I liked how everything has been addressed with logic. I liked how the handbrake automatically disengages when you select a gear, how the comfort access did as I asked, every single time I asked it. By the end of my time with it, I even liked how it looked. The colour and styling completely grew on me, and the way it demands your attention became enjoyable, colours make cars after all.

Skoda Elroq RS verdict

Ultimately, I won’t be handing over all my ageing buckets to the scrappage scheme; they are still the experience I prefer in my weird car-centric life. However, the Elroq RS is a very good example of how, when executed correctly, an EV can make your life easier day to day, can be a pleasant alternative when you just need to get somewhere, and can even fit in alongside a line-up of old dinosaurs.