Skoda gets there first: the Epiq rolls out of the Spanish plant before Volkswagen's ID. Cross

© skoda-storyboard.com

Skoda has beaten Volkswagen to the punch with its small electric crossover. The new Epiq has already entered production at the Volkswagen plant in Landaben, in Spain's Navarre region, while the related Volkswagen ID. Cross is still gearing up for launch.

For Skoda this is an unusual project: the Epiq is the first model from the Czech brand to be built in Spain. The same industrial map already includes the Volkswagen ID. Polo and the Cupra Raval — both assembled in Martorell. The Volkswagen Group is rolling out a whole cluster of affordable EVs almost simultaneously, but it is Skoda that has sent the Epiq down the line first.

For now, only the most powerful versions are coming off the assembly line. This Epiq packs a 211 hp electric motor and a battery delivering roughly 440 km of range. The cars are due to reach dealers after the summer. The cheaper version, expected to be priced slightly above €25,000, will follow a few months later.

The Spanish plant was not chosen at random. Landaben spent years building the Volkswagen Polo, then the T-Cross and Taigo, and has now been retooled for compact electric cars. The site's production capacity reaches up to 1,400 vehicles a day, so if demand holds up Skoda can scale volumes quickly.

The Epiq's main bet is not on record-breaking performance but on price and practicality. After the success of the Enyaq and Elroq, the brand is moving into a more affordable segment, where buyers compare an electric car not against premium models but against a regular city crossover.

If Skoda can keep the price near €25,000, the Epiq could become the kind of no-fuss electric car Europe has been waiting for: small, straightforward and not intimidating on the sticker.