Next month will see motor shows East and West: Shanghai and New York. Czech automaker Skoda will be unveiling their Vision E concept in the East, hoping to gain a toehold in the exploding Asian EV market. The Vision E is Skoda’s first foray into all-EV territory.

But the company isn’t only interested in a journey to the East; like nearly all other European carmakers, they’re anxious to be well established as an EV manufacturing competitor by the time BMW, Daimler, Ford and Volkswagen unveil an operational version of their collective project: a network of hundreds of EV quick-charging stations throughout Europe. And, too, battery technology is advancing by bounds, especially at the hands of VW, who has invested a great deal in the automotive evolutionary leap.

The Skoda will use VW’s existing platform, but boast a design feature that has traditionally placed it in direct competition with Volkswagen: interior space. So it comes as no surprise that Skoda was swallowed up by the VW group in the 90’s, and now operates as a subsidiary.

VW has made the cars visually appealing, and more dependable; as the EV market share grows over the next decade, Skoda models will be poised with VW battery technology for greater range and even faster charging.

Add to all of this the fact that the Vision E is a crossover, and will offer autonomous driving capability, and you have what may be very respectable sales of the model, especially in Europe, and possibly in the Asian markets. The brand has earned highest marks for dependability by British consumers, and may be poised to grow into a new flowering as an EV manufacturer. Their first all-electric model will reach production stage, the company says, in 2020.