Used test: Kia e-Niro vs Skoda Enyaq interiors

Interiors

Driving position, visibility, build quality, practicality

These SUVs have slightly higher driving positions than, say, a Volkswagen Golf, but you feel oddly perched in the Kia e-Niro, because its seat feels high in relation to the dashboard. And that’s with its height-adjustable driver’s seat set as low as it’ll go (a facility that both cars have). Both cars come with adjustable lumbar support, although we wish the Skoda Enyaq’s extended farther into the small of the back. Its seats provide more shoulder support than the e-Niro’s, though.

The e-Niro’s large digital instrument screen displays information legibly. The Enyaq’s version is smaller and the range indicator’s digits are surprisingly tiny. It also embeds its air conditioning controls in the infotainment touchscreen, although at least the temperature controls are permanently displayed. Still, overall we prefer the fuller suite of simple buttons and knobs on the e-Niro’s dashboard.

Visibility is fine in both cars. You can see past the e-Niro’s windscreen pillars more easily than the Enyaq’s thicker ones, but it’s easier to see out the back of the Enyaq because of its bigger rear side windows. The e-Niro’s standard rear-view camera (a £505 option on the Enyaq) helps out when backing up, and both cars come with rear parking sensors. Only the Enyaq has LED headlights, and the halogen bulbs you get with the e-Niro are dim by comparison.

Skoda has done a great job with the Enyaq’s interior. For an electric car at this price point, there are few better. In the main, it’s well screwed together, the plastics are generally soft and smart, and it has some bright chrome and gloss black elements to push up the ‘plush-o-meter’ needle. The e-Niro isn’t bad for the money, but the finishes aren’t quite as pleasing and there are more harder plastics on display.

The massive, clear 13.0in infotainment screen in the Enyaq looks impressive, and Skoda has done a reasonable job of laying out all the features logically. There’s the odd one lurking behind a confusing icon, but familiarity eases this issue. The screen in the e-Niro's 2 trim is quite small compared with the Enyaq’s, but it’s clear and easy to decipher. The menus are easy to figure out and there are some shortcut buttons for swapping between them. The software is more stable, too, with fewer instances of it crashing during our tenure than the Enyaq’s. Both cars get smartphone mirroring. 

The e-Niro is the smaller car overall. Up front, it has enough room for six-footers, but there’s more head and leg room in the Enyaq, which is also broader between its front doors. It has slightly better storage as well, mainly thanks to bigger door bins that are carpeted to stop items from jangling, but both cars have a good range of trays and cubbies.

The Enyaq’s rear seats are clearly roomier, though. Two tall adults have more leg and head room to spare than they do in the e-Niro (which, it must be said, still has enough) and the Enyaq is a better fit for three adults. There’s no hump running along the centre of its floor (there’s a small one in the e-Niro) and it has a bit more shoulder room for three.

Other pluses include more pockets on the back of the front seats for tablets and phones, and bigger door bins. The Enyaq also offers the option of rear USB ports; the e-Niro has them only up front.

Finally, the Enyaq’s boot dwarfs the e-Niro’s. Nine carry-on cases fit below the tonneau cover, while the e-Niro can swallow five. Then again, the e-Niro has a bit more room under its boot floor for charging cables and the extended floor is flat all the way to the front seats when you drop the rear seatbacks, which, as in the Enyaq, are split 60/40. The Enyaq adds a ski hatch, but drop its seats and there’s a step to overcome unless you have a car with the (£260 option from new) Transport Package, which brings a height-adjustable boot floor to even that out when raised.

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