Long-term report: Getting comfortable with the Skoda Enyaq iV

I really do enjoy that ‘comfortable’ period with a new car. It’s the happy time when you’ve overcome some of a vehicle’s initial quirks and habits, leaving you to realise just exactly where you are with it. For a petrol or diesel car, that means – for me at least – knowing where the fuel light comes on and just how much I’ve got left in the tank.

How does that work with an electric car like the Enyaq? Well, it all boils down to range.

You see, for a little while with the Enyaq I was quite scared of getting too low with the amount of electric range. After all, running out of charge with an EV means game-over, a humbling phone call and the likelihood of a trailer home. So you can understand why I wasn’t too keen about running low on charge.

But as I’ve got more comfortable with the Enyaq I’ve become a lot more trusting with its range. Of course, if I’ve got some motorway miles – which tend to eat up an electric car’s range sharpish – I will need to charge up when the car is low but for pottering around town or nipping to the shops, I know where the Enyaq ‘is’ in terms of range.

Lately, that means I’ve been far more relaxed about the car’s state of charge. In fact, I’ve been dawdling about with around eight per cent charge for a little while of late, as it’s more than enough for doing shorter trips. In fact, the Enyaq shows around 20 miles of range in this state and, when you’re only doing slow speeds or hopping through traffic, it barely goes down. It’s actually quite a rewarding way to drive as it focuses you to make progress in a relaxed, easy fashion. It could be described – or whispered – as relaxing.

I will say that recently I finally lost my nerve and decided to top up the Enyaq. In fact, a little yellow warning appeared with a turtle graphic – implying that the car was running on restricted power – so I thought it was probably about time to give the big Skoda some charge. I actually didn’t notice any real drop in power during my drive to the charger, but I didn’t fancy testing its patience any further.

I’ve not got a home charger – as I’ve mentioned in a recent report – but thanks to a decent amount of chargers nearby, I’ve not found it too much of an issue. It would be lovely to rock up at the house and plug in right away, but I’m in a far more fortunate position than many EV owners. I tend to use a few 50kW rapid chargers nearby if I’m in need of a quick boost, but for the most part, I use a slower 7kW one nearby and leave it for longer. It’s cheaper and, when I’m not in a rush, I just don’t see the point in paying more for a rapid unit.

And actually, I don’t mind spending a bit of time at a charger. Sometimes I’ll take a coffee with me, check emails and use the car as a little mobile office. Also – as something of a people-watcher – I’m quite happy to sit and watch the world go by as I’m waiting to charge. Fortunately, plugging into a 50kW for around 30 minutes gives me enough range to play with for a while, so I don’t have to be there all that long.

One thing I’ve found quite useful is that you can check the charging speed via the smartphone app. Plug the car into the unit and, once it’s all up and working, you can see how quickly the energy is being sent into the car. More often than not this is a more underwhelming experience – through no fault of the car’s, I might add – as it usually shows a charger to be delivering a significantly slower speed than it’s meant to. It’s all the more annoying as EV charging is meant to be at its fastest when the car itself is at a really low state of charge, too.

I’ve not got a whole lot of time left with the Enyaq, but I’m making the most of it while it’s here. I’m making the most of the range, that’s for sure.