New Skoda Enyaq SE L 85 SNEAKS into Electric Car Grant territory

The new Skoda Enyaq SE L 85 arrives as Skoda tweaks its Enyaq offerings to deliver a long-range Enyaq qualifying for the Electric Car Grant.

We’ve moaned that the Electric Car Grant (ECG) is an ill-thought-out mess to try and boost EV sales, but with fleet buyers and pre-reg cars eligible, it isn’t focused on encouraging private buyers but massaging the ‘sales’ figures.

Launched in July, the government had to tweak the offering to cap the top eligible price to £42k a month later, and despite the fanfare of grants of up to £3,750 the only EV to get the top ECG so far has been the Ford Puma Electric (and the Ford E-Tourneo Courier).

That £42k model upper limit has driven Skoda to deliver a new electric Enyaq model with the long-range 77kWh battery with the new Enyaq SE L 85, which, miraculously, costs £41,980, undercutting the previous cheapest ’85’ – the Enyaq Edition 85 – by £2,320 and qualifying for the £1,500 discount.

As mentioned, the Enyaq SE L 85 comes with a 77kWh (net) battery delivering an official range of up to 359 miles and powering a single electric motor at the back, good for 282bhp and 0-62mph in 6.7 seconds.

Spec for the new 85 SE L isn’t exactly hair shirt with 19″ alloys, 13.0″ infotainment, Loft Interior Design, heated front seats and steering wheel, tri-zone climate, predictive cruise, Travel Assist Plus and Keyless.

Skoda would also like to flog you a Plus Option Package for £2,500 with full LED Matrix headlights, electric driver seat with memory and massage, LED taillights and animated indicators.

It all makes for a good headline offering, but back in the real world, we didn’t have to search far to find a brand new range-topping Enyaq 85x SportLine at a Skoda dealer with a list price of £49,440, offered with a £9,617 discount, making it £2k cheaper than this new entry-level 85 SE L.