Skoda Just Unveiled The Future Of EV Wagons

• The Skoda Vision O concept previews an electric Octavia wagon coming sometime “next decade.”
• It will likely be built on the 800-volt SSP platform shared with the future electric VW Golf.
• The platform supports a range extender powertrain, which is a strong possibility for the future production model.

Skoda is huge in Europe, and the Octavia is consistently its most popular model. Keeping up with the times when EVs are becoming increasingly popular, the Octavia will have to go electric fairly soon, and the Vision O concept unveiled at IAA 2025 previews what that will look like.

The Octavia is available with both liftback and wagon bodies, but the Vision O previews what an electric version of the latter might look like. The Octavia wagon is the best-selling body style in most markets, and more than 3 million have been sold since the first one was introduced in 1998.

That’s why the Octavia going electric is a pretty big deal for European car buyers, and there’s a lot to talk about with the unveiling of the Vision O. According to Martin Jahn, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing, it “builds upon this legacy, representing not just a continuation of our success but a bold step into the future of electrified estates. It underscores our commitment to provide customers with the practicality, versatility, and innovation they expect from Skoda, while also embracing sustainability.”

Skoda confirms that the production version of the Vision O will be built on a new Volkswagen Group platform, likely referring to the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), which will also underpin the future all-electric Golf. While SSP is an 800-volt EV platform, it will also support a range extender; this may be what Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer referred to when he stated that the production Vision O would be electric, but the company will “explore all options.”

Another VW Group brand, Cupra, unveiled the Tindaya concept that is hypothetically based on the same SSP architecture as the Skoda, and it has a range extender. Its battery can take it 186 miles on one charge, but Cupra says its total range with a full tank is closer to 620 miles.

While initial reports suggested that the Octavia was going electric around the year 2028, the manufacturer seems to be pushing that back. In the press release for the Vision O, it notes that “the production vehicle of Vision O, based on a future platform of Volkswagen Group, is planned for the next decade.”

Skoda doesn’t share much about the Vision O’s capability, solely stating that its trunk has a cargo capacity of 650 liters, or just shy of 23 cubic feet. That’s marginally more than today’s Octavia Combi in a vehicle that is closer in size to the larger Superb, with a total length of 190.9 inches (4,850 mm) compared to the current model’s 185 inches (4,698 mm).

While the teasers seemed to hint that the Vision O looked like it had a raised ride height, now that it’s been fully revealed, it’s pretty clear that it’s not trying to be a crossover. It’s less than half an inch taller than an Octavia Combi, which is great news in this age when most new cars are either crossovers or are trying to look like one with jacked-up suspension and plastic cladding.

The concept features the dramatic new Skoda family face, but what’s even more interesting is the design of the B- and C-pillars. The B-pillar is body colored and opens with the rear doors, which are rear-hinged in the concept, while the C-pillar is made to look invisible to make the design cleaner. Overall, this is one great-looking wagon and it shows Skoda is still at the top of its design game.

Inside, the big news is the almost-pillar-to-pillar Skoda Horizon Display measuring 47.2 inches, which looks like a slightly taller version of the upper screen in the new BMW iX3. There are still physical controls on the center tunnel, so while there is a big portrait-style display in the middle of the dashboard, the driver will be able to navigate the menus and activate functions without actually having to touch the screen.

So Skoda wants to move the wagon forward into the electric age while retaining as much of what made its combustion models great, even if a bit later than initially announced. This isn’t the first time the Czech automaker has postponed launching an electric wagon after initially starting work on one based on the MEB platform, which it subsequently scrapped, and began developing the model that it now says it will launch “next decade.”