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The Kia EV9 Concept may be impressive, but it already has competition in the form of the Skoda Vision 7S Concept.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, electric has become the new name of the game. The amount of money invested in the electric vehicle segment is going up by the day and pretty much every established manufacturer has announced their future electric plans with concepts and near-production models. Among the recently unveiled electric concepts, the EV9 Concept from Kia has been the talk of the town. However, it already has a rival in terms of being a concept that we wish was real already, and it comes from Czech automaker Skoda which is known for making cars like the Yeti, the fast-paced Octavia RS, and in recent times, the Enyaq Coupe.

The car we are talking about is called the Skoda Vision 7S Concept. It is a concept study that shows what they have planned for markets like India, but unfortunately, not for markets like America. Nevertheless, we can still appreciate an interesting concept and the Vision 7S certainly is. The seven-seating electric SUV carries many of the firsts for the company. This includes a brand-new design language that all of its electric offerings will be traced out of, creature comfort features that’ll make you say “in a Skoda?” and a powertrain that holds big promise.

Above all, the Skoda Vision 7S Concept looks painfully pretty. And even though it will not be coming to the US, it deserves a closer look.

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The Vision 7S is a full-size SUV that can take on the likes of the Kia EV9 Concept. The prototype of the car was recently showcased and we are expecting some serious friction between the two, at least on paper. But coming back to the design of the Vision 7S, the car comes with an all-new design language including a new Skoda logo that is lettered across the bonnet. At the front, the car gets a bold and butch look with its distinctive T-shaped headlamps, a rugged-looking bumper, and a rather slim grille.

On the sides, you see squared-off wheel arches that house massive 22-inch alloy wheels. The car also gets flush door handles that are placed vertically for a neater look. The rugged ethos is carried over to the back as well where the bumper design is similar to the front with vertical slats and slim LED lights. A large roof spoiler completes the look. Interestingly, the Vision 7S is also the first-ever Skoda that carries a matte-finish paint option.

On the inside is where Skoda has worked extensively to make the car distinctive. Starting with the underlying ethos that seems quite futuristic even for a Skoda 7-seater SUV in its concept form. The cabin matches the car’s outlandish exterior. The seating inside the car can be configured in two different ways - the usual ‘Drive’ mode and the ‘Relax’ mode. While the Drive mode takes over while the car is on the move, the Relax mode literally relaxes the occupant by pushing the steering wheel away, rotating and reclining the seats as well as rotating the 14.6-inch screen so that you and your fellow passengers can enjoy a movie while you charge your vehicle.

In terms of design, it should be said that the overall idea is quite minimalist, with only a few dials for climate control and a rather simple digital driver’s display that is placed above the oblong steering wheel.

Furthermore, Skoda extensively used sustainable materials across the cabin. The interior is leather-free. The floor was created with the help of recycled old tires, while the fabrics come from recycled polyester yarns. Thankfully, the company decided to stick with physical buttons for some functions positioned below the free-floating infotainment screen.

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The Vision 7S gets an 89 kWh battery pack, which gives it 373 miles of range. This is thanks in part to aerodynamic tweaks such as the closed-off alloy wheel design and the blanked-off grille. In addition to this, the car will also be capable of 200kW fast charging which will top up the car from 10% to 80% in less than half an hour.

The Skoda Vision 7S is also important because it will be among the few models that will mark the end of Volkswagen Group’s modular MEB platform, which will be phased out from 2025, before the switch to the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) architecture.

Skoda says that the Vision 7S Concept will most likely enter production in 2026. Till then, we can only hope that Skoda will retain most bits from the Concept to the production model and maybe, bring it to the US as well as an alternative to the Kia EV9 Concept-based electric SUV. After all, who doesn’t like a bit of rivalry?

Source: Skoda Auto, Skoda Newsroom

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