2020 Plug-in Skoda Octavia RS Vi teased

Skoda could launch a powerful and efficient new Octavia RS at the Geneva motor show in March, fitted with an advanced plug-in hybrid powertrain.

The Czech car-maker has released a teaser picture of an 'VIRS' badge on the back of what appears to be the hot Skoda Octavia RS hatch and fast wagon, which are badged vRS in Europe.

It hasn't released any more details, but the safe money is the new Vi-badged Skoda RS variant will lift its plug-in powertrain from the latest Mk8 Volkswagen Golf GTE.

That means it will be powered by a small 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder combined with an electric motor, a lithium-ion battery and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The result is a hot hatch that should muster around 180kW and 400Nm of torque, while being capable of travelling around 70km on pure-electric power alone.

Internally, engineers are believed to be calibrating the plug-in powertrain to deliver similar levels of performance to the current Octavia RS, so expect a 0-100km/h time of less than seven seconds and a top speed of around 240km/h.

Apart from extra cost, the drawback of the new hybrid powertrain is the added weight of the battery, electric motor and power control unit, which are thought to inflate the standard car's kerb weight by 250kg.

That means the Skoda hatch and wagon will come with its own chassis tune.

It's not known if the introduction of the Octavia RS Vi will come at the expense of the existing 2.0-litre turbo-petrol version, although the diesel variant will live on as part of the fourth-generation Octavia range.

Skoda is expected to release more details of the fast Octavia RS iV in the build up to its launch at Geneva this March.