Skoda Will Launch This Electric Crossover In 2020

Debuting at the Shanghai Motor Show, Škoda's Vision E is an electric crossover concept built on the VW Group's new MEB platform, which will act as the backbone of Volkswagen's intensive electrification efforts. This "five-door SUV coupé" design study can travel up to 310 miles on purely electric power and meets Level 3 requirements for autonomous driving.

That means it can operate independently in traffic jams, go into autopilot on highways, avoid obstacles without veering into the wrong lane, overtake, and independently find and park in an appropriate parking space. Škoda will turn it into a production vehicle in 2020, expanding its electric offerings to five models by 2025.

With the battery packs hidden in the floor pan, one motor for each axle will make the Vision E a 300-horsepower all-wheel drive vehicle. At 183 inches long and 76 inches wide, it is also shorter and wider than Skoda's first proper SUV, the three-row Kodiaq.

The Volkswagen Group's global "Strategy 2025" includes over 30 new electric models to be launched by 2025. Now, we know that five of those will come from Skoda, starting with a fashionable electric SUV that might be called Aratan. Volkswagen's choice is a little harder to guess at this point.