Next Skoda Enyaq EV to take just 12 minutes to charge

The next-generation 2028 Skoda Enyaq SUV will be the first Volkswagen Group product to be the beneficiary of the European auto giant’s advanced SSP architecture that will herald superfast charging speeds, fully autonomous driving and levels of connectivity well beyond that of today.

Full details of SSP platform have yet to be revealed, but when the next-gen battery-electric Skoda Enyaq goes on sale in less than four years it will feature the VW Group’s future battery tech and 800-volt electrical architecture that will see a 10-80 per cent top-up take around 12 minutes.

That’s a huge improvement on the 35 minutes it takes the current car – which is due to be released in Australia late next year – for a similar charge.

Revealing to Autocar that the Skoda Enyaq would be the first EV to use the SSP, Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer said that eventually 80 per cent of all VW Group products would be based on the advanced platform.

The SSP architecture, which has been created to replace Volkswagen Group’s MEB and MEB+, was expected to debut in the first all-electric battery-powered Volkswagen Golf, but that car isn’t now expected to arrive until 2029 or 2030 at the earliest.

As well as slashing charging times, the new platform has been designed to embed all the technology needed for fully autonomous driving. The next Skoda Enyaq is tipped to come with Level 4 driverless aids, allowing the all-electric SUV to operate without any intervention from the driver, where conditions allow.

Factor in enhanced connectivity well beyond today’s cars and owners will be able to stream videos and work on the move and even sleep without fear of having to take back control of the car at a moment’s notice.

Perhaps the final piece of the puzzle is clever engineering means the next-gen Skoda Enyaq and other VW Group products should be considerably cheaper to buy, compared with current EVs, with Volkswagen confident it will achieve price parity with combustion cars.

It’s too early to guess what the next Enyaq will look like, but it will almost certainly adopt the brand’s recently introduced ‘Modern Solid’ design language and be heavily inspired by the Vision 7S concept that is far more rugged than the current Enyaq.

The first concepts for the next Enyaq are expected to land around 2026. Until then, the existing battery-powered SUV will soldier on, growing in importance within the Czech brand’s range.

In the first nine months of this year, Skoda managed to shift a respectable 54,400, making it Europe’s ninth-best-selling EV.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au