Skoda skips the motor show: the Peaq debuts leading the Tour de France

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Skoda chose the Tour de France — not a motor show — to debut the Peaq, a stage where the car will be seen well beyond hardcore petrolheads. The new seven-seat electric crossover becomes the famous Red Car of the race director on 12 of the 21 stages, and alongside it the brand shows the compact Epiq for the first time.

The 113th Tour de France starts on 4 July in Barcelona and wraps up on 26 July on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The route covers 3333 km, 54,450 m of climbing, 184 riders and 23 teams. For Skoda this is already its 23rd year as the race's main partner, but in 2026 the sponsorship turns into the launch of a whole new electric range.

The Peaq is billed as the brand's flagship seven-seat EV, while the Epiq is meant to be a more affordable urban electric crossover. There are no technical specs yet, so the key fact here isn't range or power but positioning: Skoda is sealing off both ends of its electric range at once — an entry SUV and a large family model. That matters more than a photogenic role in the convoy.

On the remaining stages, race director Christian Prudhomme will keep using the Skoda Superb iV plug-in hybrid. In all, Skoda will supply the organisers with up to 225 support cars. For the brand it's a handy showcase: its EVs and hybrids work not in an advertising pavilion but in the messy logistics of a multi-day race with mountains, long transfers and a punishing schedule.

In Europe, the seven-seat electric SUV won't be fighting small city EVs but the Kia EV9, Peugeot E-5008 and Volkswagen ID. Buzz in the family role, plus future large models from Renault, Hyundai and Chinese brands. Buyers care about the third row, real range when fully loaded, charging speed, boot space and price — without those numbers the Peaq stays a loud statement rather than a finished argument against its rivals.

The Tour de France will hand Skoda an enormous audience. But once the race finishes in Paris, the Peaq will have to answer not whether it looks good in the peloton, but how many kilometres it can cover with a family, luggage and the air-conditioning running.