There was stop put on Enyaq 85x factory order from 21 May due to battery supplier change. It is also expected that this may also eventually affect the Elroq.
Translated from Elektroauto.net
Škoda Elroq 85 gets CATL battery
Tobias Stahl
May 5th, 2025
Reading time: 3 minutes
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Škoda plans to equip the Elroq 85 with battery cells from the Chinese manufacturer CATL from June. This will reduce the charging power of the electric compact SUV. Some interested parties and customers are therefore sharply criticizing the manufacturer – although the charging time is to remain unchanged.
“All Škoda Elroq models produced from calendar week 24 in 2025 will receive different high-voltage batteries due to a change of supplier,” the Edison news portal quotes from a statement from the manufacturer. This leads to a “slight differentiation of the maximum charging power” – meaning a reduction of the charging power from a maximum of 175 kW with the current battery cells from the manufacturer LG Chem to a maximum of 135 kW.
Despite lower peak performance: Charging times of the Elroq 85 should remain unchanged
A Škoda engineer had already raved to Edison at the end of 2024 about the new cells from the Chinese battery giant CATL, which are already being used in the smaller Elroq 60 variant. Now the Elroq top model is also to receive the cells. Due to a new cell chemistry, these can no longer achieve the same peak charging performance as LG Chem’s cells, Skoda explains in the press release. However, the average charging power is better, so that raising the charge level from 10 to 80 percent does not take longer than with the LG battery. Skoda has therefore also opted for the CATL cells for the Elroq 60. However, the engineer also admitted during the conversation in December 2024 that the CATL cells were a tad cheaper to buy.
At the fast charging station, however, the Elroq 85 with its net 77 kWh battery should still be charged to 80 percent in a maximum of 28 minutes. Škoda cites the “optimisation of the supply chain to ensure a smooth production process and delivery to our customers” as the reason for the change. The change could therefore also be related to the delivery times of the Elroq 85, which can last several months in Germany.
“135 just sounds less than 175”: Some Škoda customers are very displeased
E-mobility YouTuber Matthias Speicher addresses the change in a LinkedIn post and tries to appease critics on social media. Many customers are unsettled by the announcement, because “135 just sounds less than 175”. When charging, however, it is not the peak power that counts, which is only a snapshot, but how much energy can be charged in a certain time. “And this means that in more than 90 percent of all fast charging processes in everyday life, it is completely irrelevant whether 175 or 135,” says Speicher. “What counts is the average charging power. And this is the same for both batteries at about 120 to 125 kW”.
According to Speicher, the LG battery with 175 kW charging power only has a time advantage up to a charge level of about 40 percent, which is 2 minutes, according to the YouTuber. At a charge level of 60 percent, the lead is only one minute, and from 70 percent charge level there is no longer any difference. “And that’s only if you infect at 10 percent,” Speicher points out. “Those who infect earlier (e.g. 25 percent) gamble away a lot of the supposed lead even before the store.” Speicher says it has tested both battery variants extensively, both need around 28 minutes for a charge from 10 to 80 percent battery level, exactly as communicated by Škoda.
Škoda has already adapted the online vehicle configurator accordingly, as vehicles ordered now are not expected to be delivered until after the changeover to the CATL cells. Representatives of the Škoda dealer association want to discuss with the German importer in Weiterstadt at the beginning of May how to deal with the change in vehicle specifications, after the manufacturer had advertised quite aggressively with the peak charging power of 175 kW. The change in specifications should not be at the expense of the Škoda dealers, Edison quotes from the sales organization.