Budget-priced Skoda Epiq electric car wanted in Australia

The Skoda Epiq electric car – a city-sized SUV with a targeted European price of €25,000 ($AU41,500) – is on the wish list for Australia after its European launch in 2025.

It is the Volkswagen-owned Czech car maker's new entry-level electric vehicle – as a 4.1-metre-long SUV smaller than a petrol Skoda Kamiq – and has siblings from VW and Cupra in the ID.2 and Raval respectively.

A near-production concept shown by Skoda in Europe last month promises more than 400km of estimated driving range, a minimalist interior, and a larger boot than the Kamiq.

MORE: 2025 Skoda Epiq city electric SUV concept unveiled with $42,000 price

However if Skoda can build a business case to sell the Epiq in Australia, there is a possibility it may need to wear a new name locally, as Hyundai already uses the Epiq badge on the flagship variants of its Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 electric vehicles.

While the South Korean car maker has not yet trademarked the badge, it could do so – given it began using the name 18 months before Skoda announced its new model.

«It's a bit too early for this. To be honest, we need to look into the trademark situation there,» Skoda Australia director Michael Irmer told Drive, when asked if the Epiq would need a new name for Australia.

«It's not the name of a model there, it's a model… variant. With variants, I don't know if it's trademarked or not, so I really can't answer you right now.»

The targeted base price of €25,000 ($AU41,500) in Europe would apply to an entry-level model with the shortest driving range and fewer features, however a better-equipped model sent to Australia could end up carrying a similar price tag.

«This [target price] is no doubt a lower specification than what we'd get… [but] because we have the benefit in Australia – driven by the competitive forces – that our price level, for a similar spec, is quite a bit lower than in Europe,» Mr Irmer told local media.

«If you configure the cars here in our range, and in Europe you configure it – it's easy to be done, because they have the same technology just to whatever their local offering is – you can see how far the difference is.»

A 1.0-litre Skoda Kamiq costs about $AU44,000 in the Czech Republic when