While the Kodiaq SUV may be the SKODA high-flier in terms of market share and registrations, it’s not what we would consider to be the flagship for the brand. That title goes to the so-aptly named SKODA SUPERB, and it just got better.
How to improve on what’s already awesome? Well, SKODA had two choices that we could see; reduce an already under-the-glideslope price or add some Superbly timed technology.
SKODA opted to go for the second option, and then doubled down by keeping the SUPERB iV’s technology upgrade costs to within cooee of the conventionally powered existing model range.
As it is, this is the first time the SKODA SUPERB iV has been sold outside Europe and according to SKODA New Zealand’s Rodney Gillard, part of the reasoning for this is to do with the partnership SKODA NZ has with the New Zealand Police.
Quite clearly, NZ is flavour of the year as far as SKODA is concerned, and as such, we get first dibs on the SUPERB iV. And that is ‘eye-Vee’ by the way, with Vee standing for vehicle while ‘I’ could stand for Individual, Iconic, Inventive, Intelligent – anything but Internal Combustion Engine, because the SKODA SUPERB iV is a Simply Clever hybrid.
Nor is it the only hybrid from SKODA; up and coming SKODA models will feature under the iV sub-brand, introducing the SKODA OCTAVIA iV PHEV in quarter IV (see what we did there with simply clever Roman numerals?), but for now, it’s the SUPERB iV in the limelight (or red and blue lights, for the NZ Police evaluation models).
As such, the SKODA SUPERB iV line-up comprises both sedans and wagons in either Style or Sportline specification level, though the sedans won’t arrive here until next year.
They all, however share the same 1400cc, 115kW petrol engine with the requisite plug-in hybrid bits; an electric motor generating 85kW for a total 160kW/400Nm power and torque output and a 13kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
The electric motor gives enough juice to take on up to 62kms before it needs plugging in to recharge. This will take seven hours or so to recharge from a 230-volt, three-point house plug or three and a half hours from a 400-volt wallbox.
There is no super-fast DC charging option, but the combined ‘just-shy-of- a-thousand km’ range means the SUPERB iV should prompt the new EV fuelling routine of come home, plug in, lock up and relax.
All SUPERB iV models are 2WD with no chance of an AWD in the immediate future. Similarly, all SUPERB iVs run a six-speed DSG transmission.
Also common to the Superb iV models is the Sport, Hybrid and E-mode drive selector.
Sport mode relies heavily on the ICE component and uses the electric motor as a boosting function.
Hybrid mode is the function which allows the ICE and electric motor to operate collectively to deliver the SUPERB’s posted 1.5-litre per 100km fuel figure and CO2 emissions range of 33 to 35gm/km.
E-Mode sees the SUPERB powered exclusively by the electric motor giving it a 0 to 60km/h time of five seconds as well as, of course, not using any fuel or emitting any C02.
Presently, SKODA NZ is on a roll, having seen its biggest June registration numbers ever with 191 new SKODAs finding homes around the country. And this also is SKODA NZ’s biggest quarter with 100 more units registered than at any time before.
SKODA NZ’s customer base is growing, with a current market share of 1.6 percent looking to reach three to four percent by 2025, supported by a raft of new, desirable and asked for products, of which the SKODA SUPERB iV at $75,990 for the Style and $79,990 for the Sportline, is only the beginning.
