VW Golf GTE – The Blue Wonder

The VW Golf GTE in figures:

• Engine: 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and electric motor with 80 kW, 4 cylinders, 245 hp, 400 Nm
• Drive: Front-wheel drive
• Transmission: 6-speed automatic
• Performance: 0-100 km/h 6.7 s, top speed 225 km/h
• Mass: Weight 1,624 kg, Trunk: 273 – 1,129 l
• Consumption: 1.6 l/100 km, 36 g C02/km
• Test car price: 53,317 francs
• Base price: from 49,050 francs
• Competitors: Audi A3 Sportback TFSI e, BMW 2 Series Active Tourer PHEV, Hyundai Ioniq PHEV, Mercedes-Benz A-Class PHEV
• As of February 25, 2021

New chapter

A new Golf always marks a new chapter in Volkswagen's model history. After all, it is one of the best-selling cars in the industry and defines the upscale mainstream across all age and class boundaries. The plug-in hybrid GTE also promises to bring together a sporty GTI feeling and alternative sustainability. Visually, the eighth generation of the Golf is quite conservative. In the emotionless white paintwork, the blue accents at the front, in the interior and also the three centered letters GTE at the rear immediately catch the eye. The GTI with plug wants to please and not attract attention.

More would be better

Inside, however, it is noticeable that the choice of materials, the look and feel of the cockpit cannot necessarily be described as progress compared to its predecessor. The plastics are carefully processed. But especially in the GTE, one of the most expensive Golf versions, which costs 49,050 francs without extras, the plastic landscape looks rather cheap.

Treacherous operation

The operating weaknesses of the infotainment system are also striking. Until now, intuitive operation has been one of the cornerstones at Volkswagen. But the narrow unlit slots below the screen for volume and temperature control are extremely impractical. Cheap switches would have been enough. Theoretically, the new control surfaces can respond to both presses and swipes. In practice, however, they often do not do it at all. The simplest functions such as temperature selection or volume control thus become an annoying procedure. At least the menu navigation of the infotainment system with its flat, plausible hierarchies deserves great praise.

Cruising instead of jetting

The part-time electric car makes up for the pitfalls of the infotainment system on the road. It completes both sporty serpentine chases and long motorway passages without any significant body movements. This is at a level for which S-Classes would have been celebrated ten years ago. The power output of the four-cylinder engine in the GTE is largely linear. But the GTE – in contrast to the GTI – encourages less sport. On the other hand, it is great fun to cruise silently through the city. You roll over the asphalt easily and quietly, no engine noise can be heard in the interior. An exciting silence accompanies electric driving in the GTE. With a short press of the accelerator pedal, the system then automatically switches to the combustion engine.

Mehr Reichweite

Apropos Motor – der Hauptakteur unter der Haube ist ein 1,4-Liter Turbobenziner mit 150 PS, der von einem Elektromotor mit 80 kW unterstützt wird, womit man über eine Systemleistung von 245 PS verfügt. Der Lithium-Ionen-Akku ist im Vergleich zum Vorgänger von 9 kWh auf 13 kWh ausgeweitet worden, womit nun auch die Reichweite alltagsfreundlicher ausfällt.

Laden, laden, laden

Volkswagen promises a range of 62 km for the GTE on paper. In the late winter reality of city traffic, however, it tends to shrink 40 to 45 km. The charging technology of the GTE is on the same level as that of all plug-in hybrid models from VW. As standard, charging can be carried out with a maximum of 2.3 kW. This means that charging from zero to 100 percent takes about five hours. Optionally, you get a cable that should enable 3.6 kW charging power and a full charge in 3 hours and 40 minutes. However, if you want to take advantage of the advantages of all-electric driving, you have to change your charging behaviour and plug in the GTE whenever possible.

Let there be light

An eye-catcher is the matrix light. No wonder it is one of the best light sources in the entire automotive sector far beyond the Golf class. It takes away much of the danger and exertion of long night journeys in bad weather. As with all PHEVs in the compact class, the trunk loses volume. The battery pack costs around 110 liters of luggage compartment volume, leaving 273 to 1,129 liters of space for luggage.

Better safe than sorry

It goes without saying that the Golf 8 has the most modern safety systems and driving assistants integrated into VW's bestseller. Car2X communication is completely new. This means that the Golf not only warns vehicles in its vicinity of damaged cars, accidents and the end of the traffic jam, but it also receives warnings from other vehicles with this standardised technology.

We liked that a lot

The VW Golf GTE convinces above all with its excellent driving performance, good recuperation and average consumption.

We didn't like that so much

Unfortunately, the new Golf GTE is severely handicapped with its half-baked operation of the infotainment system. This is a particular shame because it even exceeds the high expectations for chassis and comfort.

Result

With the Golf GTE, Volkswagen is basically presenting a sophisticated hybrid technology that provides the advantages of the electric motor in the city and a fast petrol engine for country outings or on the way to work. The advantage of the hybrid system is its low overall consumption.