The brand that’s built a reputation on producing affordable, family-friendly cars has just gone premium.

NINETY-two thousand, nine hundred and ninety dollars. Gulp.

Electrics carry expense. We’re nowhere near when EV prices will cease to be bitter pills for a lot of the population to swallow. Skoda’s first fully battery-wed car carrying a premium was always inevitable.

But such a loading makes the Enyaq iV something that we haven’t previously had from Skoda: An outright premium car. On the sticker shock scale, the all-but-$93k ask is atomic. Do you need be told it’s the most expensive car Skoda has ever sold here, by some margin? Thought not. Potential for Skoda’s first electric achieving that alluring, clearly influential Clean Car cheque seems blown to pieces. Also blasted to bits is the whole ‘Skoda-cheaper-than-VW’ value thing that’s been a given all these years.

All Volkswagen Group brands are going electric, and all are doing so with the ‘modular electric drive matrix’ platform and technology, MEB.

While wrapped in sharp-edged Skoda styling, the car whose name derives from the Gaelic girl’s name Enya (which means ‘fire’ and ‘kernel’) - with the E also meaning electric and the Q providing conformance to normal Skoda protocol for SUV names - is nonetheless more than slightly similar under the skin to the VW ID.4 and ID.5 and Audi Q4-e-tron; also in process of local release, with price and specs made public well before Enyaq’s details were shared.

Rear-drive with its single motor feed by a 82kWh lithium-ion battery with 77kWh of usable storage, pumping 150kW/310Nm, promising 8ish to 9-and-a-bit seconds-100kmh performance and and a WLTP-tested range of 518 kilometres is Skoda’s recipe also shared by the others, notwithstanding some minor variance in range.

The cheapest ID and Q4 so provisioned cost $79,990 and $99,990 respectively, the first also eligible for a $8635 Clean Car rebate. Even before that helping hand involves, the entry Enyaq 80 sites $13k above the least pricey Vee-Dub, just $7k below the Audi. Yes, take a moment to let that news sink in.

And that’s the entry model. Enyaq in SUV also avails in a higher trim Max (Maxx in Europe), driven on the press launch, for $97,990. Above that is a slinky silhouetted Coupe, also upscale that has yet to arrive. It’ll be our first six-figure Skoda: $102,990. That’s $8500 above the dearest ID.5, VW’s equivalent.

With Enyaq, at least in this launch phase, Skoda NZ is going into new territory. How well this pitch into premium will suit the image of a brand that has until now spent all its time at the canny end of the Volkswagen Group’s price spectrum is anyone’s guess. The national distributor says it has no particular volume forecast for this Enyaq iV. Who’d have thought they would.

In fairness, that’s not a conceded sign of nervousness simply due to where the car is price-positioned. Supply uncertainty due to the war in the Ukraine, semi-conductor chip shortages, big demand in Europe snowing under the supply chain to markets further afield. Those are the given reasons. Hit or miss, it won’t be in big supply. Chances are no car on the MEB platform will be.

When outlining why Enyaq prices as it does, Skoda NZ boss Rodney Gillard made several points that do have to be considered. Though careful not to be seen to diss a kindred brand, he insists ‘same’ is not the same when comparing with ID. A deep-dive on every spec difference suggests he’s on solid ground; in base format, the Skoda and VW are NOT identical.

Potentially, the entry Enyaq should be measured against another ID.4 that’s still cheaper, but by only $3k, the $89,990 Pro Plus. As for the Audi? From all that can be gleaned, even Ingolstadt’s entry Advanced at $99,990 might provide a poorer experience than a Max. Still, who ever thought we’d get to a time when Skoda buyers felt compelled to cross-match with Audi-ists?

Other factors have also taken Skoda’s local operation to this position. There’s impression this launch model has been something of a ‘take or leave it’ proposal.

The Mlada Boleslav plant is the only one outside of Germany so far making MEB product. It’s a big operation. Yet even though New Zealand is a favoured enough customer to rate our country being just the second right hand drive market, the factory is under the pump feeding countries that are much larger, much more important and much closer than ours. BTW Skoda NZ contention about us being ‘the first outside of Europe’ is a bit disingenuous; Enyaq has been feeding into the UK for some time, and strictly speaking, with abdication from the EU they’re no longer Continental.

You’ll recall, perhaps, this is the second Enyaq pre-launch, the first being a viral effort more than a year ago that abruptly went cold when it became clear the car wasn’t coming for late 2021 after all.

Moreover, when Skoda NZ first talked about this car, they outlined a strategy similar to that used for its Karoq and Kodiaq SUVs. Several variants, at several price points, conceivably starting with an Ambition Plus equivalent seemed the strategy. Clearly no longer.

Whether NZ insistence for the large battery – on reasonable grounds; it offers the 400km-plus range Kiwis are perceived to see as bare minimum requirement for a car of this size – affected this is possible. What’s alluded, too, is that the factory has determined what’s best for it – a rear-drive Sportline – is best for us. It’s all there is. So, it’s all we have.

Top shelf means top dollar, but Gillard offers that he would have expected most customers to go high anyway. As much as Skoda buyers take pride in being careful spenders, more than half of all annual volume achieved by any Skoda model sold here since 2019 has been achieved by Sportline, or the equally affluent and sportier RS and Monte Carlo presentations.

Those looking for a well-stocked car will be hard-pressed to find an Enyaq Sportline Max lacking. It is a very comfortable, decently refined and extremely well-provisioned vehicle.

Only apparent if you can corral one of the grey import Enyaqs here is that there’s a noticeable visual difference in stance. Sportline is 15mm lower on the front axle and 10mm lower on the rear, but has a more hunkered appearance because the sill panels, left black on lower-spec fare, are in body colour.

Bespoke bumpers enhance the look and Sportline means a gloss black surround for the grille and C-shaped surrounds for the air inlets at the extremities of the bumper, while the rear gets a more pronounced lower section, again in gloss black. Contrasting black is also used for the door mirrors, roof rails and window frames. The Skoda lettering and model badges also have a gloss black finish to round off the theme.

Surprisingly without the aero-cheating spats that appear on other new Skodas to enhance fuel-eking, the standard 20-inch alloys nonetheless lend a bold and attractive look, with the option to upgrade to 21-inch items, and Sportline gains LED Matrix headlights, that can dynamically alter the high beam light without dazzling others. Buying Max accesses the jazzy crystal face grille, embedded with more than 130 LEDs, which illuminate 18 transparent vertical ribs and a single horizontal bar. Activated when the headlights are switched on, the illumination’s welcoming/leaving animation is a light-hearted amusement, hardly a must-have but certainly something to remember the car by.

Sportline delivers a thick-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel, carbon fibre effect on the leading edge of the winged dashboard fascia and front seats so heavily bolstered they could almost pass for competition chairs, with massage function and full electric adjust. They and the outboard rears are heated, too. It has a premium stereo tri-zone air conditioning, rear window blinds, electric tailgate. Sportline suspension is the DCC type, with the usual driving modes.

The Coupe has all that, delivers a touch more range and brings a panoramic sunroof because these are in vogue. It obviously adds cost and, quite probably, weight; the plus is that with the shade open there’s also 4cm additional headroom.

Skoda can push all the usual sustainability credentials. Enyaq leather is treated with olive-leaf extracts instead of chemical tannins, there’s recycled bottle plastic in the floor mats and in the seat covers, which also have recycled wool. The body contains 13kg of recycled plastics, 40 percent recycled steel, a far swag of recycled aluminium and glass (in the side windows). ‘Skoda sensible’ still there; durability to withstand family punishment means a lot of hard-wearing plastics Skoda doesn’t mind you seeing.

In physical dimension, Skoda’s EV slots between the Karoq and the Kodiaq, being 4648mm long, 1877mm wide and 1618mm tall, on a 2765mm wheelbase. It classes as an SUV, though realistically that’s just a convenience. There isn't a great deal of ground clearance so don't expect to go very far off-road in it. It is also designed to tow, but only up to 1000kg.

From the outside, it’s close to Karoq. Slip inside and it’s as roomy as the Kodiaq. The beauty of electric is the absence of a transmission tunnel. That, and the seats being slightly high set, allows even tall passengers to sit front or rear and feel unrestricted and comfy, enjoying space, space and more space.

Could it have offered even more? Unlike some other electric SUVs, there isn't a storage area under the bonnet, but it has a 585-litre boot with the usual clever hidden compartments, one purpose-shaped for charging cables.

There’s decent interior storage, including a generous console between the front seats. Like Tesla’s Model Y, it gets a large wireless charging pad that can charge two phones simultaneously. It keeps the trad umbrella and ice-scraper, the first stowed in the driver’s door as per convention, the other relocated from the fuel lid cover to a slot in the boot.

The cabin eschews the usual Skoda instrument displays and instead takes a small – surprisingly so, actually - digital display ahead of the steering wheel while a centrally mounted freestanding 13-inch touchscreen sits atop the dashboard, with impressive clarity and resolution.

It’s also backed up by grunty computing power, going by the immediacy of response when using a phone for sat nav guidance. That’s a ‘must-do’ because the native system has to be adjusted for NZ. Successful resolution will make it smarter in destination plotting, achieve speed sign recognition plus the display will deliver in augmented reality, meaning it’ll project moving arrows to appear in front of the windscreen to help make direction changes easier to understand.

Fast charging is promised, with an 80 percent 'fill' possible from 40 minutes at a 125kW DC-powered station. Skoda has a tie with Chargenet, but only insofar that cars have a RFID dongle. Owners need to set up an account. They’ve also sorted a wallbox. It has an onboard 11kW charging unit.

Starting and stopping is just as it is with my own Karoq; requiring a prod of a button on the right side of the steering column. I wondered how different an electric Skoda would be to drive from my diesel. Truth is, not much different at all. Diesel is noisy. Electric is silent and, unsurprisingly, given there’s a substantial battery mounted skateboard-style under the floor, Enyaq has a more planted, heavier feel. But it also has a pleasingly assertive stance and good steering feel and ride comfortably. In a nub, the Skoda-ness is obvious.

The drive programme began at the Longhouse, a historic property overlooking spectacular Otago coastline that was built as a recuperation hospital for returned World War One soldiers but is perhaps better known for being a property used by Dr Truby King, who established Plunket and also the Karitane health programme for newborns. I was a Karitane kid, just saying.

From there we drove north to Palmerston, then hooked left and inland on Central Otago's 'Pig Route' (nobody's quite sure where the name came from, but there are some entertaining theories), the scenic, mountainous section of State Highway 85 leading through to Naseby. From there to Ophir and then to Cromwell, overnighting at Gibbston Valley; dinner at the winery restaurant, a night in the property’s boutique cabins.

It's a drive on which the car felt confident and comfortable. But also exposed how WLTP economy, though striving to provide a real-world barometer, can still be optimistic. Skoda cites 523km from this car. Driving style, driving terrain, drive modes … EVs are sensitive things. We clocked close to around 240kms, and had 27 percent battery life left on arrival. It calculates your maximum range based on your driving history, so the weight of your right foot really matters. Once the sat nav sorts to NZ, it’ll also run calculation based on the conditions.

For us, a significant part of the driving was in Sport mode; whose utilisation isn’t demanded, but doesn’t go unnoticed either. Though, frankly, even in this most energetic, likely to be least efficient setting, it’s not a racy car. But wholly spirited driving is the vRS’ job, right?

This one engages as a relaxed kind of operator; there’s enough oomph for overtaking and all that, but when you put your foot to the floor, the reaction is measured. What does come through is how quiet the drivetrain is – there’s very little whine and, when it drives by, it whooshes unless going at a crawl, when there’s a pedestrian warning warble. Really, it’s a car which would be easily considered for a big journey with every seat filled and decent load in the boot. It just feels friendly from the get-go.

I really hope Skoda here might get more lee-way with their specification choices. As is, NZ spec is all but lineball to the UK’s (hence why it felt comfy about wrangling Brit-spec cars for this pre-launch phase). Even if they stick simply with Sportline, assuming they can tap into the same supply line feeding the Brits, they could conceivably access a 132kW 60, featuring a 58kWh battery, and an 80x, also with the 77kWh battery but with a second motor on the front axle that increases total output to 195kW.

What’s more likely regardless is that the family will enlarge to include the all-paw vRS, all-wheel-drive with 220kW and 0-100kmh in 6.2 seconds – the fastest production car Skoda has created. It’s already in right-hand-drive, though for now restricted to the United Kingdom, but likely would appeal to fans of the brand’s sports editions. Though it will assuredly be even pricier than any Enyaq we see now.

Competitors? There are a few. All single motor rear-drive, that – even when running smaller batteries – remain in the same context for range, performance, roominess, kit and, dare I say, perceived badge pedigree.

The obvious ones? The Tesla Model Y ($76,200, 60kWh battery, 220kW/420Nm), Hyundai Ioniq 5 ($79,990, 58kWh, 125kW/350Nm) and Kia EV 6 ($76,990 58kWh and $79,990 77kWh Air derivatives, 125kW and 168kW, 350Nm both), plus the incoming Ford Mustang Mach-E (75.7kWh battery, 198kW/430Nm in entry $79,990 format). That C40 Recharge P6, front drive this year and rear-drive in 2024, has 69kWh, 170kW/330Nm and costs $85,900. Then there’s its Polestar sister ship; all the same gear, a bit cheaper.

Don’t hang this whole premium thing on the distributor. This is a head office edict.

For the past couple of years, Skoda has been saying transition to electric would necessitate a global image change. It also says the switch to electrification will be a task hardest for affordable marques because the considerable investment required has to be especially carefully balanced against the returns from modest car prices.

Skoda has two life-changing projects on its agenda. There’s a strategy plan called Next Level, expected to run to 2030. Also there’s the development and adoption across the whole range of a new design language called Modern Solid, a move the new chief executive, Klaus Zellmer, has described as “the most dramatic change” since VW acquired the marque in 1994.

There’s plenty to think about. And more time to let all of what’s going on sink in, as Enyaq iV’s ‘arrival’ doesn’t signal a start to sales. The cars here are assessment stock. The idea is you get to look place an order … and, come September (ish), a vehicle will be in your driveway. Yes, it’ll take that long. With MEB, nothing has been easy.

The writer attended this event as a guest of the distributor, with travel, accomodation, meals and a modest gift provided.