‘Simply Clever’ – celebrating 127 years of Škoda EV history
Škoda’s new Elroq vRS is yet another landmark in the Czech brand’s electrifying EV history dating back to the turn of the 20th century.
Since Škoda launched its all-electric Enyaq SUV back in 2020, the Mladá Boleslav-based carmaker has become a firm favourite on the EV landscape. After all, the Enyaq is everything a Škoda should be: unassuming, well-made, trustworthy, and reliable.
We’re open Enyaqistas at EV Powered, and we’re not alone in our enthusiasm. Škoda’s all-electric flagship is widely considered to be the best EV to use parent company Volkswagen’s MEB platform.
The fact that the Enyaq was nominated for European Car of the Year during its first year of sales, and scooped the Golden Steering Wheel 2021 prize is testament to quite how superb a Škoda it is.
And on Škodas being excellent, a new EV recently emerged from the halls of Mladà Boleslav’s ‘vRS’ skunkworks division; a 335bhp, vRS version of its mid-sized Elroq SUV complete with optional ‘Hyper Green’ paint.
But Skoda’s history with EVs goes back far further than the Elroq, Enyaq or even the cute-yet-compromised Citigo e iV. In fact, Skoda has been applying its ‘simply clever’ credo to electric vehicles for more than a century. So in celebration of that and its ongoing EV excellence, we’re taking a look back at 127 years of electric Skodas.
Škoda EV history part 1: Hybridisation
The Škoda brand of today was founded in 1895 by Vaclav Laurin and Vaclav Klement, and the brand quickly moved from two-wheeled transport to four-wheeled at the turn of the 20th century.
Like several carmakers at the time – Detroit Electric in the United States, and Hyppolite Romanov in the Russian Empire, for example – the Vaclavs were toying with electrification as a means of propulsion. After all, the motor car was then in its infancy, meaning the possibilities – and scope for imagination – were endless.
For their EV, Laurin and Klement enlisted the expertise of František Křižík, the big-brained (and equally hirsute) Czech engineer behind – amongst several other notable inventions – the electric tram system still operating in Prague today. Most importantly, Křižík was a firm believer that electricity was the future and would serve as the main power source for the bright new century ahead.
In 1908, the Czech trio took a Laurin and Klement Type E prototype, and set about electrifying it. While they fell short of an actual full EV, the result was a car powered by a four-cylinder engine, which drove two electric motors on the rear axle producing 35bhp.
While period technology wasn’t quite advanced enough to allow for the storage of generated electricity. Laurin, Klement, and Křižík had created a fully functioning hybrid vehicle, which would serve as the jumping off point for Škoda’s electric heritage, and which predated models like the Nissan Qashqai e-Power by more than a century.
The Škoda ‘Beer Float’ and Puck
It wouldn’t be until the Interwar period that another Škoda EV arrived. This time, it wasn’t a hybrid car. In 1938, Škoda introduced the ‘Beer Float’; an all-electric van used by breweries in the city of Pilsen to deliver beer to its various pubs and restaurants.
The attention given to developing the ‘Beer Float’ – with its three-tonne payload – should come as no surprise. After all, Pilsen is home to the Pilsner Urquell brewery, and your average Czech drinks 181.4 litres of beer annually.
Yet again, though, the Beer Float was underpinned by thinking far ahead of its time. The company recognised that a small all-electric van was ideal for inner-city drop offs, as it produced fewer emissions and far less noise than the equivalent ICE.
Given technology had progressed sufficiently to ensure that lead acid batteries could now be recharged, their ‘plug-in and play’ nature meant thirsty Pilsners would indeed receive their pilsners even during the harshest of Czech winters.
As what-was-then Czechoslovakia gradually fell under one of the Nazi’s most brutal occupations, the Mladà Boleslav works had one last run at an EV during the early 1940s. The Puck was a children’s car powered by a 400-watt electric motor and two battery packs; one under the hood, another under the bench seat.
At full chat, the Puck returned a top end of 7mph, and could drive on a single charge for two hours. Afterwards, a 12-hour charging session would be required to drive it again.
Nazi occupation, Soviet EV trolleybuses, and communist collapse
The Škoda factory was then fully incorporated into the Nazi war economy. Any further electrification plans were quashed. Following the Nazi defeat in 1945, Czechoslovakia was illegally brought under the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence just three years later.
The 41-year communist rule of Czechoslovakia was a complex one for Škoda EV history. While not a Soviet Republic, Czechoslovakia remained heavily influenced by Moscow. The USSR’s 1944 transport law dictated that Soviet cities with a population of over 200,000 would benefit from emissions-free public transport. Škoda would be the ones to provide it.
On one hand, this saw the brand diversify its electrification strategy into public transport – Škoda was given the task of producing all-electric trolleybuses for various cities across the communist bloc.
Overall, though, the communists ran dangerously close to running Škoda’s proud heritage for innovation into the ground. They didn’t quite manage though, thanks to the communist bloc’s collapse of 1989 and the Volkswagen takeover that transpired a year later.
The Eltra 151, and Mladá Boleslav’s electric revival
As the communist regime was assigned to what was now the Czech Republic’s history books – the country split from neighbouring Slovakia in December 1992 – Škoda’s innovative spirit and bent for electrification began to spark again throughout Mladá Boleslav.
The first Škoda EV built under VW ownership was the Eltra 151, an electrified version of the Favorit. Under the skin lie 14 six-volt lead acid batteries amounting to the equivalent of 1.1kWh and a 21bhp power output.
As a pick-up, the Eltra 151 fared better than its hatchback counterpart; bizarrely in California, where authorities were offering significant tax subsidies for EVs. Ironically, Škoda’s first post-communist EV fared less well at home: just nine of them were picked up by the Czech postal service.
By the time the ‘90s drew to a close, Škoda had transformed its image into a dependable, reliable, and wallet-friendly carmaker courtesy of models such as the Felicia, Octavia, and the Fabia. Each of the new Škodas were built on a VW platform, and to this day, it still employs the same manufacturing model.
Fast-forward another decade, and Škoda laid its cards properly on the table with its Mk2 Octavia Green e-line; its first modern EV. A 26.5kWh battery was paired with an 80bhp electric motor.
Just 17 of these experimental vehicles with their 87-mile range and somewhat glacial 0-62mph time of 12 seconds were produced. Nonetheless, their performance around the Czech capital paired with the fact that the average European commute time of 25 minutes was enough to convince Škoda’s top brass that electrification was the way forward.
Dieselgate, electrification, and what’s next for Škoda?
VW’s involvement in the 2015 Dieselgate emissions scandal forced several brands under the German giant to immediately begin an EV drive. Škoda was quick to react, and announced that by 2020, it would bring a ground-up EV to market.
In 2017, Škoda unveiled its Vision E concept; a 300bhp all-electric SUV whose design would go on to influence its current range of electric vehicles. To bridge the three-year gap until its first proper EV launched, Škoda electrified its CitiGo e iV; a sister car to the VW e-Up!
For almost half a decade now, Škoda has cemented itself as one of the EV segment’s leading brands. By fully embracing its electric history and spirit for innovation, Mladá Boleslav has ended up producing some of the most likeable EVs on sale today.
The Czechs are also far from fearful about combining that rich past with an electrifying future. In just a handful of years, Škoda has produced the motorsport-ready Enyaq Race Concept EV, the Voltavia restomod, and has even paired with Gran Turismo to showcase its 1,071bhp Škoda Vision Gran Turismo.
When VW got caught with its (diesel-stained) pants down 10 years ago now, then-Škoda chairman commented, “there is no alternative to electrification”.
In Škoda’s case, it appears he wasn’t wrong.
