Second-gen Citigo to be Skoda’s first electric vehicle

Skoda’s electric stable is abuzz with rumours and there has been much speculation amongst the automotive community as to which car would be the launch-face of Skoda’s electric program. Until now, the impression was that this role would be played by an all-electric crossover SUV based on their concept, Vision E. In fact, Skoda had recently showcased this concept at the Shanghai Motor Show. And according to that plan, the Superb saloon would go hybrid by 2019, and the Vision E crossover-SUV would be launched by 2020. However, recent developments suggest that the new-gen Citigo hatch will spearhead Skoda’s electric programme instead.

Skoda has pledged to bring out no less than five all-electric vehicles by the middle of the next decade. Furthermore, Skoda intends to have one in every four cars sold under its umbrella to be a plug-in hybrid or have a purely electric drivetrain by 2025. All the electric cars from the Czech carmaker will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s newly developed MEB platform for electric cars. The Citigo hatchback seems to be the most suitable candidate to be the flag bearer for Skoda’s electric push. It is based on the Volkswagen Up, which has its own electric guise called the e-Up. In addition, both these cars have a third sibling, the Seat Mii – which its maker intends to develop into an EV pretty soon. So it seems like a natural course of action for Skoda to do the same with its smallest car, the Citigo. The mechanical details of the EV are still unknown.

The electric Citigo will likely be introduced after the Superb hybrid goes on sale in 2019 and before the production version the Vision E is introduced in 2020. After that four additional EVs are slated to arrive by 2025.