Skoda has just pulled the covers off its biggest, most ambitious product yet, and it has its sights set squarely on the Kia EV9. The Skoda Peaq is a full-size, seven-seat electric SUV confirmed for Australian buyers, bringing up to 640km of claimed range and a specification sheet that punches well above what the price tag is expected to be.
What’s in a Name?
The name “Peaq” is borrowed from the English word “peak”, and Skoda means it literally. This is the brand’s largest SUV ever, sitting above the Kodiaq in the lineup and representing the high point of the Czech brand’s growing electric portfolio. At 4,874mm long with a wheelbase of 2,965mm, it’s a genuinely substantial machine, longer than a BMW X7, and only a handful of millimetres shy of a full-size Land Cruiser in overall length.
Three Powertrains, One Platform
Built on Volkswagen Group’s proven MEB electric platform, the same architecture underpinning the VW ID.4, Audi Q4 e-tron, and Skoda’s own Enyaq, the Peaq launches with three powertrain options that cover a wide spread of range and performance.
Peaq 60. 63kWh battery · 150kW rear-wheel drive · 450km+ range
Peaq 90. 91kWh battery · 210kW rear-wheel drive · 640km+ range
Peaq 90x. 91kWh battery · AWD · 220kW combined · 610km+ range
DC fast charging on the 91kWh models takes the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in just 28 minutes. That’s a meaningful number for family road trips, putting roughly 400km of range back in the battery during a lunch break.
Space for Seven. and Then Some
The Peaq’s wheelbase pays dividends inside. In five-seat configuration, boot space reaches 935 litres, more than most wagons. Fold the third row up for seven passengers and you still have 299 litresbehind the rearmost seats. There’s also a 37-litre frunk (front boot) for cables and small items.
Bidirectional charging, V2L, V2H, and V2G, comes standard. V2L (Vehicle-to-Load) lets you power devices directly from the car. V2H (Vehicle-to-Home) and V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) take things further, allowing the Peaq to act as a home battery backup or feed power back into the electricity grid. For a family living in a home with solar panels, this is a genuinely useful feature.
Technology Inside and Out
Inside, the Peaq debuts Skoda’s first 13.6-inch portrait-oriented infotainment screen, a significant step up in screen real estate for the brand. There’s also an augmented reality head-up display that projects navigation and safety information onto the road ahead, and Travel Assist 3.0, Skoda’s most capable suite of semi-autonomous driving aids to date.
The panoramic sunroof is split into nine individually dimmable zones with electrochromic glass, meaning different passengers can adjust the tint over their section without affecting the rest of the cabin. It’s the kind of thoughtful feature that a family with kids and glare-sensitive adults will genuinely appreciate.
Design: Modern Solid
Skoda is calling the Peaq’s design language “Modern Solid”, and the numbers back up the description. A drag coefficient of just 0.249Cd makes it among the most aerodynamically efficient seven-seat SUVs on the market. Flush door handles, T-shaped LED lighting signatures front and rear, and a clean, uncluttered flanks complete a look that should age better than the busier styling of some German rivals.
What to Expect in Australia
Skoda Australia has confirmed the Peaq is coming but hasn’t published a local price or launch date. Based on the brand’s recent pricing strategy and the Peaq’s positioning in Europe, a starting price in the low-to-mid $70,000s seems realistic, which would place it meaningfully below the Kia EV9, which starts above $90,000 in Australia.
If Skoda can land this SUV at that price point with the specification it’s showing, the Peaq won’t just compete with the EV9, it could redefine what value looks like in the seven-seat electric segment.
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