► Lowdown on new Skoda Octavia EV
► New battery-powered estate due at IAA
► Tech stack flips from MEB to SSP platform
The next Skoda Octavia is expected to push the Czechs’ design envelope more vigorously than earlier, gentler transitions, the CEO has revealed. We’ll see the next generation at this autumn’s IAA car show in Munich – and the boss predicts it may spark ‘controversial discussion.’
CEO Klaus Zellmer said: ‘I’m really looking forward to sharing the Octavia concept car that will give a glimpse of what we see as the next level of our design strategy. From my point of view, it’s going to create a lot of buzz and controversial discussion… the design is very much way forward. It’s one of the biggest steps forward, I’d say, in recent years.
‘The car is clearly recognisable as a Skoda because it’s a further step of our Modern Solid design language, now fully introduced with the Elroq — but this is another step.’
Skoda Octavia goes electric
Crucially, the concept car being readied for world debut this autumn will have an electric powertrain, suggesting that Skoda is finally entering a new era of EVs merging back into the mainstream model hierarchy. Previously, Skoda has preferred to launch standalone electric models like the Elroq and Enyaq to mirror combustion equivalents.
Zellmer told CAR magazine the Czech company will unveil an electric Octavia estate at this autumn’s IAA motor show. It will be a concept car, but expect the tech showcase to give a very clear indication of the direction of travel.
‘We need a BEV [battery electric vehicle] version of Octavia,’ he said. ‘Expect a precursor at the September IAA Munich show – we will have a concept car there which gives an indication of what the new design language will be for that car. The Octavia is really important for us.’
It remains the company’s most popular model worldwide, notching up 215,700 sales in 2024, an impressive rise of +12% – helping leapfrog Skoda from seventh- to fourth-bestselling brand in Europe.
Why Skoda is planning electric versions of its core models
Skoda showed this jellymould image of its future electric estate car (above) in 2023. When asked if an electric Octavia concept meant that Skoda was now merging its electric and combustion vehicles, the chief executive refused to commit. ‘I don’t want to give too much insight into that… wait and see in September! Then we will show you the full potential and technical package that we envision. It will be a concept car, so it is a testbed for us to see what the resonance is from the media, our dealers and our potential customers and consumers.’
Having an electric Octavia suggests that Skoda has reached that switchover point, where standalone models are branched back into the mainstream range – a bit like how parent company Volkswagen is preparing to re-integrate its ID range back into the historic portfolio. ‘All technologies in one car?’ mused Zellmer. ‘Let’s see…’
What to expect from an electric Skoda Octavia
The big news is that the upcoming Skoda Octavia EV will not use the established MEB hardware, like most volume Volkswagen group products today, but instead the very latest Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). This is the architecture which will also underpin the next-gen electric VW Golf.
‘In our original line-up two and a half years ago the Octavia Combi [estate] was included as a battery electric vehicle. But we have decided not to bring that car on the MEB platform – the one that the Skoda Elroq, Enyaq and Epiq are on – but on SSP. The new platform will bring more performance and more cost efficiency. It will be the platform we’ll put the Octavia Combi on as a battery electric vehicle.’
Our artist’s impression by Andrei Avarvarii builds on the earlier jellymould images of the new Skoda electric estate – revealing a fresh aesthetic for the workhorse of the Skoda range. Expect an abundance of the Simply Clever practical touches for which the Czech brand has become famous, with a host of luggage handling solutions and little details designed to make everyday life that bit simpler.
Zellmer pointed out that, in future, Simply Clever would increasingly mean digital simplicity – music to the ears of anyone who’s baulked at how many controls are buried in touchscreens and infotainment menus.
When will the new Skoda Octavia launch?
When asked if a timeline had been communicated for the newly electrified Octavia, the CEO refused to commit a date. ‘No, we have not,’ he replied. ‘I mean, we have, but we don’t communicate it yet. [It’s] a couple of years away, at least a couple of years away.’
Zellmer added that Skoda would respond to market need – suggesting that an all-electric Octavia would arrive only when necessary. ‘We have been the segment leader with Octavia since 2016 in Europe. There’s enough volume in the market for us to potentially even run the two cars [combustion and electric] in parallel; it all depends on what the customer sentiment is, especially in the fleet market…
‘That’s why we keep the avenues open, while at the same time looking into what a battery electric vehicle successor of the Octavia could look like. Of course, that car will then also come with a lot of software performance, to be ready for potentially autonomous drive mode and so on.’