The Skoda Peaq traveled 936 km on a single charge. The result is impressive, but it has a clear drawback.
Skoda announced that the Peaq 90 model covered a distance of 936 kilometers without recharging. The vehicle, with a battery capacity of 91 kWh gross and 86 kWh net, had an average power consumption of 9.2 kWh/100 km, and the route from Mladea Boleslav to the Dutch town of Zandvoort was monitored by TÜV SÜD.
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This is a record-breaking result for a production-ready seven-seater electric SUV. However, it wasn’t a regular road test but rather classic hypermiling.
936 km instead of 647 km per WLTP
The model used in the test was the Skoda Peaq 90 with rear-wheel drive and an engine producing 210 kW of power. The official range according to WLTP is 647 km, so this record-breaking drive exceeded that figure by 289 km, or about 45 percent, beyond the certified range.
The result itself is impressive, as we’re talking about a standard car, without modifications or an experimental battery. In the world of EVs, such records are often set by prototypes or vehicles designed for just one purpose. Here, Skoda wanted to show what can be achieved with a ready-made model.
The journey was undertaken by two company employees, Marek Jež and Jakub Krs. They set off from Mladea Boleslav around noon on Tuesday and reached their destination in the afternoon on Wednesday. Along the way, there were driver changes, stops for rest, and a night break. Time wasn’t the priority—every extra kilometer mattered.
How it was done
The key wasn’t in the battery’s capabilities but in the route and driving style. Skoda admitted that AI was used for planning to determine the most favorable route. The car avoided fast highways and mainly traveled on lower-category roads with light traffic and a steady pace as much as possible.
Drivers avoided rapid acceleration, sudden braking, and complete stops. Dry weather also helped. The manufacturer explicitly stated that such a result would not be possible on wet surfaces. This is an important addition, as rolling resistance and energy losses in rain can significantly disrupt the balance.
Skoda did not provide an average speed. It’s a shame, as it is one of the most important parameters for such records. Without it, it’s easy to be impressed by just the distance covered, but harder to assess how much of this result relates to normal driving.
The initial target was Amsterdam, about 850 km away from the starting point. When the car reached the Netherlands with more energy than expected, the crew extended the route by another 50 km and finished the journey in the coastal town of Zandvoort.
The ending was also typical for such tests. In the last few kilometers, the car showed 0% battery charge and no range left, until it finally stopped moving altogether.
9.2 kWh/100 km in a large car. Great on paper, much harder in reality.
The most impressive figure in this test isn’t the 936 km range itself, but rather the energy consumption. 9.2 kWh/100 km in a large seven-seater SUV sounds almost absurdly good. This is a level usually associated with smaller, lighter urban cars or compact vehicles driven very gently.
A few factors helped the Skoda. First, the route mentioned earlier, which didn’t involve fast driving. Second, its aerodynamics. The manufacturer reports an air resistance coefficient of Cx 0.249, which is very good for a large family car. Third, the car had 19-inch wheels and standard tires with low rolling resistance.
The car’s design itself contributes to this. The Peaq features counted door handles, a panoramic roof with Dynamic Shade Control, and support for two-way charging. These are more of practical features than record-breaking elements, but they show that Skoda positions this model as technically more advanced than the brand’s previous electric vehicles.
However, it’s important to keep things in perspective. WLTP isn’t the real minimum, and hypermiling records aren’t the real maximum for an average driver. These are two different worlds. If someone buys such a car and drives on the highway with family, luggage, air conditioning, at speeds of 120-140 km/h, they won’t achieve either 936 km or 9.2 kWh/100 km. Bad for marketing, but good for common sense.
A record for a production car, but not a test of everyday use
Skoda itself does not hide this deliberately. The brand admitted that the goal was to utilize the technology “to the fullest extent possible,” rather than recreating a normal usage scenario. One of the managers responsible for the model also added that customers will use the car’s full capabilities in everyday driving, not drive as if competing in a fuel-saving race.
And that is an honest presentation of things. Because, contrary to the headlines, it’s not the case that the new Peaq suddenly “has a range of 936 km.” It doesn’t. The point is that under ideal conditions, much more can be achieved from it than what the homologation suggests.
Such attempts are mainly meaningful as a demonstration of the efficiency of the powertrain, aerodynamics, and energy management. They are somewhat like fuel economy records in internal combustion engines. Interesting, but only as long as no one confuses them with everyday use.
Skoda isn’t the first. Others have also played this game before.
The 10,000-kilometer record sounds impressive in a press release, but it’s not an exception in the EV market. BMW previously made a similar attempt with the iX3 50 xDrive model. Engineers drove 1,007.7 kilometers from Debrecen to Munich with only 2% battery remaining. They also mainly used national roads, turned off the air conditioning, seat heating, and infotainment systems, and made a night stop along the way.
General Motors went even further with the Chevrolet Silverado EV, which covered over 1,704 kilometers at a speed of no more than about 25 mph, or roughly 40 km/h. This is practically a laboratory demonstration on wheels.
There was also the Lucid Air Grand Touring, which is said to achieve 1,205 kilometers per charge. Again, impressive, but always with big caveats regarding the conditions.
Against this backdrop, Skoda appears credible in that it didn’t pretend to be just ordinary driving. It showed a record time while also making it clear that it was achieved on a carefully prepared route, with proper driving techniques and good weather conditions.
For drivers in Poland, the conclusion is simple. If you want to genuinely extend an EV’s range, you don’t need miracles. A more relaxed driving style and avoiding high speeds yield the best results. That’s all there is to it.
Peaq demonstrated that a large electric vehicle can be very fuel-efficient, but only normal tests at highway speeds will tell us how much it’s truly worth on the road. What do you think? Does such a record say something more about the car, or is it mainly just PR material?