Volkswagen Passat GTE review, test drive

In the wake of the diesel ban in the Delhi NCR, VW plans to introduce this plug-in hybrid version of the Passat in India. But does it make sense?

Published on May 09, 2016 12:18:00 PM

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Volkswagen Passat GTE review, test drive

Make : Volkswagen

Model : Passat

What is it?

It’s the petrol-electric plug-in hybrid version of the car Shapur drove way back in 2014, and it was also on display at this year’s Auto Expo in February. In the wake of the diesel ban in the Delhi NCR, many carmakers are revisiting petrol engines, while others are going a step further with hybrid solutions. This Passat is one such car, but unlike the Toyota Camry Hybrid, which is a simpler parallel hybrid (it charges itself as you drive), this is a plug-in hybrid, like the BMW i8. The difference is, it can be charged from a power socket at home, and the advantage is, if you charge it every day and don’t have long distances to drive, you could potentially use it entirely in electric mode with zero fuel consumption! Even if you do use the petrol motor, VW claims an astonishing fuel efficiency figure of 62.5kpl, and a driving range of 1,100km.

It’s certainly an exciting prospect, but also an expensive one. With the regular diesel Passat expected to cost upwards of Rs 30 lakh (ex-showroom), this high-tech variant will likely be beyond the Rs 40 lakh mark. Unlike Toyota, VW is unlikely to assemble the Passat GTE in India, and the import duties will only drive the cost up. In fact, rather than doing a conventional launch, the company is planning to initially bring in just a handful of cars – around 10 or 15 – to establish how feasible it will be for our infrastructure – both the roads and the electric power grid. We spent some time with the Passat GTE in Berlin to see what it’s like.

What’s it like inside?

It is, as expected, virtually identical to the diesel Passat, except for a few cool changes. There are blue accents all over the cabin, notably contrast stitching on the steering wheel and seats, as well as some blue trim on the gear lever and door pads. These match the blue accents on the exterior – on the grille and flanks. Also, interestingly, there’s no ‘Passat’ badge on this car, only ‘GTE’. Back to the inside, you also get VW’s new optional massaging front seats, and there are unique dials (analogue standard and digital optional) and various new displays on the infotainment touchscreen with a variety of different hybrid-specific readouts.

Apart from the usual ‘active power source’ display and various others like distance-to-empty for the batteries and fuel tank, there’s also another cool one that shows you how much further you could drive if you altered some aspect of your drive. For instance, we switched off the air-con and were told we could drive 1km further in electric mode as a result. Other changes include moving the fuel tank underneath the boot (it makes the luggage area smaller and shallower), because the 9.9kWh battery has taken its place under the rear seat. The rear seat itself is unchanged, and as with the regular car, is a spacious and comfortable place for two.