Electric Skoda Octavia previewed in concept form with huge practicality

Skoda has unveiled a brand new concept car, called Skoda Vision O, and it gives us a glimpse into the Skoda Octavia Estate's electric future.

It will be the first of Skoda’s legacy models to go electric, with the Octavia having been first introduced to the UK in 1998. Currently, Skoda’s only pure electric models are its Elroq and Enyaq SUVs, which were introduced as EVs from the outset.

Technical details haven't yet been confirmed, but we expect the Vision O will be based on VW Group's SSP platform underpinnings, which is still in development. However, VW has confirmed this tech should be able to support faster charging rates than its current MEB platform (on which the Elroq and Enyaq are based), meaning, on average, a 10-80% top-up could take just 12 minutes. No range figures or battery capacities have been revealed yet, but we do know that the SSP technology should be able to handle over-the-air (OTA) software updates, which will allow remote upgrades to suspension and other hardware.

Indeed, it's the same technology that's set to underpin the upcoming Volkswagen ID Golf – another historical model set to go fully electric (but not for the first time) in the coming years.

The Vision O concept is also capable of autonomous driving, with Skoda claiming it can manage "all driving tasks independently", except in unfavourable weather conditions. 

Skoda's concept is slightly longer than the current Octavia Estate, and is in fact closer to the size of the current Skoda Superb Estate. In terms of looks, though, it draws more on previous generations of those two estate models, with a more rakish silhouette and sloping roofline instead of a boxier shape. It gets T-shaped rear-lights similar to the ones on the upcoming Skoda Epiq small electric hatchback due to arrive next year. However, the Vision O's daytime running lights are more angular, and it swaps the slotted 'grille' that the Epiq adorns for a more minimalist look.

Inside, there's a 1.2m-long digital display sitting on top of the dashboard, displaying important information like your current speed, charge remaining and weather conditions. Underneath, there's a portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen, similar to the 14.6in screen in Skoda's Vision 7S concept, revealed in 2023, which previews the next-generation Skoda Kodiaq. That screen was able to rotate between portrait and landscape orientations.

Despite its rather minimalistic interior, the Vision O concept still gets a host of physical buttons and dials on the steering wheel and centre console for common functions like volume adjustments, changing radio stations, answering phone calls and adjusting cruise control. The rotary dial on the centre console can be used to cycle through menus on the touchscreen. There's also an AI voice assistant built-in, developed with Google Gemini.

Extra creature comforts include wireless phone charging, dedicated storage for charging cables in the boot and an integrated fridge – though we'd be surprised if that last one makes it to production.

The current Octavia Estate offers exceptional practicality with its 640-litre boot, but the Vision O is even more spacious, with 650 litres with the rear seats up. That's also more than what's on offer in the Superb Estate PHEV, but when you opt for non-PHEV versions of that car, the extra space not taken up by the battery bumps it up to 490 litres.

It’s likely that the electric Skoda Octavia will remain on sale alongside the combustion-engined version, which is currently offered with both diesel and petrol power, with some versions benefitting from mild hybrid assistance. 

The new Skoda Octavia EV is expected to arrive at the end of the decade around 2028 or 2029. Prices are a long way from being revealed, but we could see it being priced relatively competitively, since the SSP tech will be able to facilitate cost-cutting LFP batteries.

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