Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Robert Kah
Volkswagen Golfs are easily misunderstood cars, which is probably why most see them as boring and uncreative. Wolfsburg finest is, however, a very complex vehicle that has to wear many hats. At the bottom end, it's a 1.2-liter family car, at the top, a 300 HP sportscar. Somewhere in the middle, in between the estates, the MPVs, clean diesels and other variants, Volkswagen decided to add yet another strange-sounding nameplate. Should we care?
Definitely, the GTE is probably the most complex Golf you can buy. Designed to be the third member of the GT family, it's got the same chassis characteristics as the GTI and GTD. This includes the lowered suspension, larger alloy wheels, fruity exhaust, superior equipment and so much more.
But while the seats are covered in similar tartan fabric to the GTIs dating decades ago, the powertrain is totally futuristic. A plug-in system comprises of a 1.4-liter TSI engine and electric motor which can power the car in a number of very different ways.
On its own, the petrol engine produces 150 PS very efficiently, since it's been equipped developed with cylinder deactivation, better thermal management and a stop/start function. The electric motor has another 100 hp and an power the car independently for up to 31 miles (50 km) up to a top speed of 81 mph (130 km/h).
To put it simply, press a button and you've got an EV, press another button and you've got 204 PS of combined power and a car that will do 0 to 100 km/h in just 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 135 mph (218 km/h).
Volkswagen say that according to the EU test cycles, this plug-in will do 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers. That's going to be hard to pull off in real life, but the undoubtedly frugal engine has another party trick: an overall range of 584 miles or 940 kilometers. Since we're in Geneva, we though we'd put that into perspective with a few places you could go to from there on a single charge+tank:
But while the seats are covered in similar tartan fabric to the GTIs dating decades ago, the powertrain is totally futuristic. A plug-in system comprises of a 1.4-liter TSI engine and electric motor which can power the car in a number of very different ways.
On its own, the petrol engine produces 150 PS very efficiently, since it's been equipped developed with cylinder deactivation, better thermal management and a stop/start function. The electric motor has another 100 hp and an power the car independently for up to 31 miles (50 km) up to a top speed of 81 mph (130 km/h).
To put it simply, press a button and you've got an EV, press another button and you've got 204 PS of combined power and a car that will do 0 to 100 km/h in just 7.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 135 mph (218 km/h).
Volkswagen say that according to the EU test cycles, this plug-in will do 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers. That's going to be hard to pull off in real life, but the undoubtedly frugal engine has another party trick: an overall range of 584 miles or 940 kilometers. Since we're in Geneva, we though we'd put that into perspective with a few places you could go to from there on a single charge+tank:
- Brussels, Belgium in 7h 9m, 786 kilometers
- Zagreb, Croatia in 9h 6m, 940 kilometers
- Rome, Italy 8h 42m, 893 kilometers
- Le Mans (via Paris!!!) in 6h 10m, 703 kilometers
- Essen, Germany in 7h 36m, 798 kilometers
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