Skoda Elroq: the design team tell all

It takes a village to raise a child, the old saying goes. Well, in the case of the new all-electric Skoda Elroq, it took an army of talented designers and engineers to bring this impressively innovative all-electric SUV to life.

The new Skoda Elroq is a key moment for Skoda as the brand continues its electric transition. Building on the success of the all-electric Skoda Enyaq, the Skoda Elroq is Skoda’s first compact all-electric SUV. It also offers a first taste of how electric Skoda models of the future will look, as it introduces Skoda’s Modern Solid design theme. 

The result is pretty striking, as well as being incredibly practical to boot. Which gives you plenty of reason to put the new Skoda Elroq on your shortlist. If you need one more reason, the first 475 customers who pre-order the Skoda Elroq will be entered into Skoda’s Million Mile Giveaway – with the chance to win up to 10,000 miles of free public charging – letting you start your Skoda Elroq journey in even more style.

Skoda’s design team are rightly proud of what they’ve collectively achieved with the new Skoda Elroq, and that’s why we wanted to explore the story behind it. So, in the Skoda team’s own words, this is how the new Skoda Elroq was born.

Learn more about the new all-electric Skoda Elroq

Find out how to enter the Skoda Elroq Million Mile Giveaway

Building the perfect base

As Skoda’s first compact all-electric SUV the Skoda Elroq boasts city-friendly dimensions, but it certainly doesn’t skimp on space or practicality. In fact, it expands on it, with a family-friendly interior and bags of room for luggage.

Oliver Stefani, Skoda Head of Design: “At Skoda, design is not just about aesthetics. While creating cars, we always think about our customers.”

Klaus Zellmer, Skoda CEO: “Skoda is all about function. It has to work. It has to be intuitive, with lots of space for luggage and passengers. It should feel comfortable. It’s more family oriented. It’s your companion that provides everything.”

Harriet Venters, Skoda Elroq Product Manager: “We talk about ‘Everyday Explorers’, and the Skoda Elroq is all about creating a more accessible electric vehicle. It’s more compact on the outside, but still with all that space on the inside.”

Radek Spic, Skoda Elroq Project Manager: “The Skoda Enyaq and Skoda Elroq are both based on the same platform with the same wheelbase, but the Skoda Elroq is a bit shorter than the Skoda Enyaq – 17 centimetres shorter, in fact. That means it’s much easier to drive as an urban and suburban car; perfect for city use. But it still keeps the same spacious boot space of about 470 litres.”

Klaus Zellmer, Skoda CEO: “The Skoda Elroq’s 470-litre boot is easily enough to fit in a stroller or three big suitcases. It’s the perfect companion for daily exploration.”

With electric cars, practicality isn’t only about space. It’s also about all-electric range and rapid charging: helping you go the distance with ease, and letting you take your adventures further. That’s why the new Skoda Elroq was designed to deliver from 230 miles of all-electric range all the way up to 360 miles, with ultra-rapid charging of 145kW to 175kW letting you top up from 10% to 80% in as little as 25 to 30 minutes.

Johannes Neft, Skoda Head of Technical Development: “We engineered the Skoda Elroq with a lower centre of gravity, improving its stability on the road. This, and other features contribute to the car’s perfect agility, ideal for exploring both urban and suburban environments.”

Klaus Zellmer, Skoda CEO: “The Skoda Elroq has been inspired by everyday life. Like the morning ritual of enjoying a cup of coffee, it’s designed to fuel our drive to explore. It only takes about 15 to 30 minutes for caffeine to kick in, offering hours of sustained energy. It’s an efficient way to start the day. Likewise, Skoda’s efficient powertrains are incredibly efficient. The Skoda Elroq takes full advantage of battery pre-heating energy management and smart route planning to optimise its range and charging. A wide choice of battery sizes enable a range of more than 350 miles, while charging the Skoda Elroq from 10% to 80% takes less than 30 minutes.”

Karl Neuhold, Skoda Head of Exterior Design: “Thanks to its long range and rugged body style, the Skoda Elroq will be the perfect companion for Everyday Explorers, while its compact size also makes it ideal for urban driving.”

Changing the face of Skoda design

The new all-electric Skoda Elroq compact SUV introduces Skoda’s new Modern Solid design language, which blends familiar Skoda lines and design touches with a new, even more streamlined philosophy. It’s a first taste of what electric Skoda models of the future will all look like.

Oliver Stefani, Skoda Head of Design: “The Skoda Elroq is our first compact electric SUV, and the first Skoda in our line-up to incorporate our ‘Modern Solid’ design language. ‘Modern Solid’ is based on three important key values. It’s robust, functional and authentic. With its distinctive shape and clean, functional, minimalist look, the Skoda Elroq is the perfect car to debut this new Skoda design approach.”

Karl Neuhold, Skoda Head of Exterior Design: “The all-new Skoda Elroq has a very characterful face. We’ve incorporated the Skoda wordmark on the bonnet for the first time as a characteristic standout feature. The eye-catching Tech-Deck Face, with the daylight running light functions and indicators on the side, and a shiny black module incorporating the radar and other sensors in the middle. It all sits on a distinctive robust front bumper, with accents in Unique Dark Chrome rounding off the look.”

Oliver Stefani, Skoda Head of Design: “The glossy black Tech-Deck Face is one of the hallmarks of our new ‘Modern Solid’ design language, ushering in a new era. The fact that the daytime running light and headlights are separate gives us a chance to make everything very slim and modern-looking.”

Karl Neuhold, Skoda Head of Exterior Design: “From the side, the Skoda Elroq shows the character of a compact SUV. It has a bold body with wave elements over the shoulders and a lot of contour on the side, and a streamlined roofline for really good aerodynamics.”

Johannes Neft, Skoda Head of Technical Development: “Aerodynamics play a crucial role in the performance and range of electric vehicles. We’ve optimised the Skoda Elroq’s aerodynamics to achieve a drag coefficient of just 0.26, which is one of the best values in its segment.”

Karl Neuhold, Skoda Head of Exterior Design: “On the rear, the Skoda lettering is flanked by razor-sharp rear lamps showing the classic Skoda C-design above a robust diffuser element.”

Harriet Venters, Skoda Elroq Product Manager: “The Skoda Elroq is a real step-change for aligning our cars for the future, bringing a sleek, minimalist bold design, while also giving it real presence on the road with shaping at the front and how that flows through into the aerodynamics at the side. All those elements give it a dynamic look and feel, but also play a part in the drive. So, it not only looks great, but combines with the engineering to help us get more range out of the car.”

An interior that’s stylish and sustainable

The new Skoda Elroq’s interior blends a wealth of even-more smart connected tech with an easy-to-choose range of carefully curated Design Selection trim materials that have been designed to be as sustainable as they are premium in look and feel.

Chan Park, Skoda Head of Interior Design: “The Skoda Elroq’s interior offers huge space for drivers and passengers, thanks to the great package created by our engineering team. It also delivers real modernity with an improved user experience.”

Oliver Stefani, Skoda Head of Design: “Inside the Skoda Elroq, we’ve emphasised sustainability by increasing the use of recycled materials.”

Katerina Vranova, Skoda Colour & Trim Design: “For the Skoda Elroq, we’ve replaced shiny chrome surfaces with a sleek dark chrome finish. We’re introducing more sustainable artificial leatherette for the first time, which you can see in the door, on the armrest, and on the seats. We’re also using textiles from recycled polyester materials. And, on the Skoda Elroq’s Lodge interior, we’ve introduced a special highlight for the first time: colourful seatbelts in a beautiful orange colour.”

The new sound of Skoda design

The fact that the electric motors of Skoda’s electric cars are incredibly quiet introduced a new challenge and a new opportunity for the Skoda Elroq’s design team: how to create a virtual engine ‘tone’ that warns pedestrians that the car is approaching, while also creating an engaging in-car experience for the driver. Skoda seized the opportunity, creating two tones – ‘Futuristic’ for everyday driving, and a more emotive ‘Sport’ with lower frequencies that evoke more spirited driving.

Pavel Orendas, Skoda sound development: “With the Skoda Elroq, we’ve come up with a unique sound that’s characteristic of the Skoda brand.”

Miroslav Jaskmanicki, Skoda design department: “This corresponds to our holistic corporate sound strategy. In short, we want everything associated with Skoda to sound subconsciously similar to the listener – whether it’s the sound of the infotainment system, or the sound of the car itself.”

Jaromir Zak, Skoda vehicle verification: “During the development process, we have to take into account legislation, which defines not only the minimum sound level, but also the frequency composition of the sound when the vehicle passes a pedestrian. We also have to address the frequency shift.” 

Pavel Orendas, Skoda sound development: “We started with the first drafts of the individual tones that represent Skoda’s DNA. Then we added dynamics, so the sound is a more faithful imitation of a vehicle driving at speeds up to 30km/h.”

Libor Pribul, Skoda sound development: “The Skoda Elroq’s ‘Futuristic’ sound is fully compliant with the legislation. The car’s occupants will hardly notice it, so their enjoyment of a quiet ride in an electric car won’t be diminished, while the character of the sound will clearly alert nearby pedestrians that a Skoda is approaching.”

Turning ideas into reality

Today, virtual testing cuts the need for a lot of early physical development for an all-new model. But all new cars still have to prove that they work (and work well) in the real world. For this, design, test, research and development teams typically build ‘mules’ using parts of other cars or early pre-production components in a prototype workshop. For the Skoda Elroq, though, Skoda’s development team actually built their test cars on the production line on which the all-electric Skoda Enyaq SUV will ultimately be made. A total of 16 Skoda Elroq prototypes were built this way.

Milan Vostry, Skoda prototype project manager: “The first Skoda Elroq test cars with built in cooperation with other departments directly on the production line. Even though we did the final paintwork in our workshop, the first model – or parts of it – went through a series-production welding shop, paint shop and assembly line.”

Michel Nemec, Skoda acoustics test coordinator: “There’s a lot to do, as the goal is to make sure the car delivered to the customer is of the highest quality. We do testing in our laboratories, on the Skoda polygon, but also in an aero-acoustic tunnel in Italy and on a test track in Wolfsburg. We test all the driving modes that a customer might encounter – in all different climatic conditions, on different surfaces.”

A thrilling debut

A camouflaged version of the new Skoda Elroq got its ultimate test on the final stage of the 2024 Tour de France. Skoda has long supported cycle racing – linking back to its origins as a bicycle manufacturer in the early 21st century – and over 205 Skoda vehicles were used this year to help the Tour de France’s organisers run the event. The final production version of the Skoda Elroq was then ultimately revealed to the world in a spectacular event in Prague at the start of October.

Harriet Venters, Skoda Elroq Product Manager: “The Skoda Elroq maintains the elements people love about Skoda – real comfort, convenience and Simply Clever features. But it’s also doing something new.”

Oliver Stefani, Skoda Head of Design: “With the new Skoda Elroq, our team has managed to preserve and re-interpret key Skoda design elements and combine them with new ideas and visual accents. Every curve, every line serves a purpose. It’s simple and it’s functional. It combines a distinctive rugged look with a spacious interior. And you see this everywhere around and inside the car.”

Harriet Venters, Skoda Elroq Product Manager: “You work on a new car for years, so it’s exciting to get other people to see it as well. But, for me, it’s the styling of the car that I’m looking forward to seeing customers see most. It looks really distinctive on the road. I can’t wait for customers to see a whole new era of Skoda design.” 

Klaus Zellmer, Skoda CEO: “It was a thrill and an honour to make that first drive in the Skoda Elroq out into the eyes of the world. It’s even more of a joy to know that this drive on-stage starts the journey into the hands of our customers.”

Learn more about the new all-electric Skoda Elroq

Find out how to enter the Skoda Elroq Million Mile Giveaway