► Skoda’s electric flagship due by late 2026
► Previewed by Vision S and Space concepts
► Around 4.9m long, features seven seats
Skoda’s flagship electric car has been teased at the annual company results meeting, where a video provided the first look at the brand’s seven-seater EV. It is due in 2026 as a rival to large battery-powered family crossovers such as the Kia EV9.
These first pictures peel away the disguise of our earlier spyshots, confirming a design shaped by the Czechs’ new Modern Solid styling handbook, with slimline headlights and LED-enabled lighting graphics, crisp surfacing, an illuminated grille and Skoda branding spelled out in letters in place of the company’s badge. It’s a major step forward for the brand’s design.
The new Skoda range-topper was shown, albeit briefly, as CEO Klaus Zellmer announced the company’s 2024 annual results. Sales rose nearly 7% to 926,600 globally, giving Skoda a 5.9% market share in Europe – enough to make it the region’s fourth biggest brand.
The new Skoda seven-seat electric car
The large new seven-seat EV will top Skoda’s electric car range – and will likely undercut several rivals on price, according to well-placed insiders. Skoda is busy rolling out standalone electric vehicles alongside its existing combustion models (think Elroq to the Kaoq compact crossover).
The brand has already confirmed that the new model will be ‘around 4.9 metres long,’ and will ‘offer flexibility and enormous space.’ The new model will likely appeal to families wanting to go electric, as it packs three rows packaging seven seats into its footprint – acting as a battery-electric complement to the Kodiaq.
We’ve already had some strong hints towards its design. For example, the Vision 7S Concept (which we’ve driven, albeit slowly) is the closest thing we have to describe how the new electric SUV looks. Skoda has also shown off a jelly mould-like design sculpture named Space (pictured below), depicting the Czech brand’s ‘Modern Solid’ design language gradually being rolled out across the range.
Evidence of that new look has already launched, as new EV models like the Skoda Elroq and upcoming Epiq already share the same design cues. The Enyaq’s recent facelift features some of these style details, too.
Zellmer told CAR in 2023 that ‘almost all’ of the new EVs the brand plans to release between then and the end of 2026 will run on the MEB+ platform underpinning many of the Volkswagen group’s latest EVs. For Skoda, that includes the Epiq and Elroq.
Although Skoda is planning to launch an electric Octavia on the group’s newer SSP architecture, the MEB hardware is preferred for the new seven-seater owing to its wider economies of scale and lower manufacturing costs – key to keeping Skoda’s prices down.
MEB+ is what underpins the large VW ID.7 and its Tourer estate sibling. Using this platform means rear or all-wheel drive versions for Skoda’s new electric SUV will be possible, with a claimed electric range of up to 435 miles.
We’ll update this story when we find out more information about Skoda’s upcoming electric seven-seater.