Overnight Skoda sketched out what its upcoming Vision 7S concept will look like, giving us our first real glimpse of its new Modern Solid design language.
The Vision 7S is a seven-seat electric crossover that’s set to debut on August 30, European time, and likely previews a model that will sit above the Enyaq in both price and size.
Up front the thin vertical headlight stack is topped by a daytime running light strip that fades into a black grille that has more than passing resemblance to a smiling mouth.
The shape of the, presumably, non-functional grille, with a central indent that feeds into a sharp valley in the bonnet, is a clear link to the Skodas currently available in showrooms throughout the world.
Whereas today’s cars feature the company’s winged arrow logo in that central dip, the Vision 7S uses the brand’s word mark instead.
The lower section of the bumper has a silver bash plate-style element and plenty of grey plastic, as well as a seven-slot air intake, although the central one is blocked off and painted orange. We wonder if Jeep will take offence to this design, like it did with Hummer’s slotted grille design.
Along the sides the surfacing is pretty clean, although the shoulder line catches the eye as it becomes broader across the wheel arches.
Interestingly the outer edges of the wheel arch protectors have a square-ish design, while the inner section is round. Also of note is the upright trailing edge of the rear quarter window.
At the back, the tail lights, like the headlights, are arranged in a vertical stack with a thin horizontal strip that bleeds into both the fender and tailgate.
The rear bumper is dominated by dark grey plastic, a silver bash plate-style piece, and, like the front, seven vertical rectangular bumps.
Over the last month Skoda has released two design drawings of the 7S’ interior, which features three rows of seats, and a centre tunnel capable of hosting a baby capsule.
The dashboard has a clean and minimalist look, and features an almost rectangular steering wheel with a small digital instrumentation display, as well as a free-standing vertically-aligned infotainment screen, a first for Skoda.
According to Thomas Schäfer, Skoda’s former CEO, the Modern Solid design language captures “rapidly changing demands” of its customers and allows the brand to “align itself more closely with their lifestyles”.
He claimed Modern Solid’s unveiling will be “a real wow moment – both for our customers and for our competition, too”.
Under the skin the Vision 7S likely makes use the Volkswagen Group’s MEB electric vehicle architecture, and shares a lot in common with the Volkswagen ID.6.
Like the 7S, the ID.6 is available with up to seven seats across three rows. The ID.6 is 4876mm long, 1848mm wide and 1680mm tall, and rides on a 2965mm wheelbase.
The ID.6 is currently only available in China at present, and is available with 132kW, 150kW or 225kW drivetrains.
