Photo: Guido ten Brink / SB-Medien
The super-spacious Skoda Superb has received a mid-life refresh this year, and the Czechs saw fit to bring two highlights of the new range to the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. They're the Superb iV, which has nothing to do with injections and everything to do with running on electricity, and the Superb Scout.
Many plug-in hybrids shout their green intentions. Models like the Panamera E-Hybrid, Prius Prime/PHEV or even the Hyundai Kona can't help but get attention wherever they go. The Superb iV is nothing like that; it's a gray business suit if you ignore its aero-style wheels, which are optional by the way.
It's a similar story inside, where Skoda just made some minor tweaks to the digital dashboard. But it could be quite popular. Given how corporate car legislation is changing, the Superb iV might sell in the thousands or tens of thousands. The technology is derived from that of the Passat GTE, meaning a 1.4 TSI making 156 HP is joined by a 116 HP e-motor to give you up to 218 HP and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. It also sports a relatively large 13 kWh battery pack that takes up the area under the rears seats.
Even less exciting to look at in Frankfurt is the Skoda Citigo e. It's also based on VW tech, basically a carbon copy of the e-Up! EV with a 36.8 kWh battery offering up to 265 kilometers of range (165 miles). Before these two were able to put us completely to sleep, we caught the rugged body cladding of the Superb Scout.
It's also new for 2019. But although the nameplate hasn't existed before, the last Superb had a model called "4x4 Outdoor." It's basically the same concept - black plastic cladding, slightly raised suspension, different wheels and tweaks to the electronics. While we like how different this is, for €46,000 which the Scout costs, you can just have a regular SUV/crossover, perhaps even a 7-seater one.
It's a similar story inside, where Skoda just made some minor tweaks to the digital dashboard. But it could be quite popular. Given how corporate car legislation is changing, the Superb iV might sell in the thousands or tens of thousands. The technology is derived from that of the Passat GTE, meaning a 1.4 TSI making 156 HP is joined by a 116 HP e-motor to give you up to 218 HP and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. It also sports a relatively large 13 kWh battery pack that takes up the area under the rears seats.
Even less exciting to look at in Frankfurt is the Skoda Citigo e. It's also based on VW tech, basically a carbon copy of the e-Up! EV with a 36.8 kWh battery offering up to 265 kilometers of range (165 miles). Before these two were able to put us completely to sleep, we caught the rugged body cladding of the Superb Scout.
It's also new for 2019. But although the nameplate hasn't existed before, the last Superb had a model called "4x4 Outdoor." It's basically the same concept - black plastic cladding, slightly raised suspension, different wheels and tweaks to the electronics. While we like how different this is, for €46,000 which the Scout costs, you can just have a regular SUV/crossover, perhaps even a 7-seater one.
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