Skoda announces three new electric cars by 2026

Skoda has made a pledge to invest billions of dollars into electric-car development, aiming to introduce three new zero-emissions vehicles by 2026.

Volkswagen-owned Czech car-maker Skoda has announced its plans to launch three new electric cars by 2026 – four years ahead of its initial projections.

Skoda declared its electric-car plans overnight alongside the unveiling of its Vision 7S SUV concept, a potential electric equivalent to the Kodiaq large SUV.

Skoda’s CEO, Klaus Zellmer, said the company will invest €5.6 billion ($AU8.18 billion) into electric car development, resulting in three new models by the end of 2025.

“We’re significantly accelerating our e-campaign and will be launching three additional all-electric models by 2026, with more in the pipeline,” said Mr Zellmer in a media statement. “This will put us in an even stronger position for the decade of transformation. 

“In addition, we’ll be investing a total of €5.6 billion ($AU8.18 billion) in e-mobility and a further €700 million ($AU1 billion) in digitalisation over the next five years, thus securing the future viability of the company and jobs.”

The Skoda Enyaq Coupe iV electric SUV

These three models will include a budget small car (replacing the Fabia), a compact SUV (in place of the Kamiq) and a seven-seat SUV (based on the Vision 7S concept). 

Skoda is yet to confirm whether the VW Group’s MEB electric-car platform – used in the company’s Enyaq electric SUV – will underpin the new models.

The VW Group has previously announced its plans to produce a more affordable and smaller electric-car platform based on MEB from 2025, while the newer and more advanced Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is due to be released in late 2025 or early 2026.

Skoda also reiterated its plans for electric cars to account for at least 70 per cent of its new-car sales in Europe by 2030.

In June 2022, the European Union announced a plan to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel-powered vehicle sales by 2035.

Skoda will continue to launch new petrol and diesel-powered cars beyond 2022.

Skoda says it plans to continue developing petrol and diesel-powered cars in the coming years, with a new-generation Superb and Kodiaq due to be unveiled in the second half of 2023.

The current-generation Skoda Octavia is also due to receive a mid-life update in 2024.

As reported earlier this year, Skoda plans to bring the electric Enyaq iV and Enyaq Coupe iV to Australian showrooms from the second half of 2023, or early 2024.

The post Skoda announces three new electric cars by 2026 appeared first on Drive.