F or reasons that are too tedious to dwell on overmuch (involving a pranged Caterham , seeing as you didn’t ask), this week I shall be examining a car I haven’t actually driven (yet), but it’s a fairly important one, and very much worthy of your attention. This is the Skoda Elroq , which does sound like it was inspired by The King (the Tennessee/Vegas one , not the Windsor/Balmoral edition), and, if you’ll forgive the pun, it rocks – leastways in stationary form at the unveiling event in the endlessly majestic city of Prague . The event was held in the Czech Republic as that is where the Elroq will be manufactured.
Without needing to move a single aerodynamic 19-to-21-inch wheel, the Skoda has already made itself competitive with its starting price – just over £30,000 . At least formally – there have been some heavily discounted new/nearly-new battery electric vehicles out there – this leaves this compact SUV “crossover” cheaper and roomier than the likes of the Vauxhall Astra-e , and moving into contention with the remarkable value represented by the MG ZS . In many respects, not least size, the Elroq can be thought of as the BEV equivalent of the fossil-fuelled Skoda Karoq , itself one of the better offerings in the sub-sector.
The Karoq is rather cheaper (about £7,000, with more or less equivalent differences in leasing costs), but, if you do the requisite mileage and habitually charge up at home, the Elroq can make a financial case for itself. There .