Skoda Peaq drives 936km on one charge, 45% past its WLTP rating

A standard Skoda Peaq has covered 936km on a single charge, driving from the company’s headquarters in the Czech Republic to the Dutch coast without plugging in, in what Skoda calls a range record for seven-seat electric SUVs.

The car was a production Peaq 90 with a 91kWh battery (86kWh usable), a 210kW rear motor and 19-inch wheels on standard low-rolling-resistance tyres. Its homologated WLTP range is 647km; the record run beat that by 289km, or almost 45%, at an average consumption of 9.2kWh/100km. The attempt was supervised by certification body TÜV SÜD and logged as a Czech record for the longest distance travelled by an EV on one charge.

The catch is in how it was driven. Two Skoda employees, Peaq model series head Marek Jež and high-voltage battery strategist Jakub Krs, left Mladá Boleslav at midday on 25 August and reached Zandvoort the following afternoon, taking secondary roads through Germany at low speeds, stopping to rest and change drivers, and helped by dry weather Skoda concedes was essential. The only preparation was sealing the charge-port flap.

“The aim was to demonstrate what the technology can achieve when pushed to its limits,” Krs says. “In everyday use, customers are unlikely to drive the car this way,” adds Jež.

The figure still says something real about the car. A 9.2kWh/100km average from a 4.9-metre seven-seater is roughly half what a three-row electric SUV typically uses in gentle driving, and Skoda credits the Peaq’s 0.249 drag coefficient, a figure most sedans would be pleased with. The run is also a reminder that WLTP ratings describe a regulated mix of conditions, and that efficient driving on the right roads can land well above them.

The Peaq was revealed in June as Skoda’s largest and most spacious SUV, with flush door handles, a panoramic roof with dynamic shading and bidirectional charging, and Skoda says it has taken more than 10,000 orders. It is not confirmed for New Zealand, where Skoda’s electric line-up is the Enyaq and Elroq. The record arrives in the same fortnight as Hyundai’s 965km extended-range Santa Fe, a figure that needs a petrol engine to reach; the Peaq’s needs only a light right foot.