The Skoda Vision O concept, unveiled at the Munich motor show earlier this year, has taken a further step towards reality with the debut of a fully functioning prototype.
The electric estate remains some distance from showrooms, however, and senior Skoda executives say that any production version is at least five years away.
Tipped to morph into a successor to the Skoda Octavia (it's sized between the current Octavia and Superb), the production Vision O is likely to offer a mix of plug-in hybrid and pure-electric powertrains rather than be a pure EV.
It also previews the Czech brand’s next-generation design language and serves as a test bed for the next wave of its ‘Simply Clever’ features, notably a removable Bluetooth speaker, modular boot storage and four door-mounted umbrellas.
What's it like to drive?
I had a brief drive in the prototype, which is a full concept that has been draped over the top of a Superb PHEV, with only the battery being used as a means of propulsion.
The conceptness is obvious from the start, as the doors aren't fully synced up to the disappearing door handles. The drive selector too isn't fully operational, so a makeshift rocker is instead used.
My drive is restricted to 15kph, so I'm not able to learn too much about how the car will feel in the real world. But I do find that the unassisted steering is actually pretty heavy and true, while the seating position feels like you’re perched on top of something.
Inside, there's a tonne of physical buttons, which makes selecting features on the move easier, while the new Horizon Display – a full-width digital screen stretching across the dashboard and a portrait-format infotainment screen below it – shows a lot of information.
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