Tell me about it please. Went to order a diesel GT company car earlier and saw I can get one of these for an extra £27 a month. Have to say I’m intrigued. Half the BIK, DSG and no dirty diesel. Real world mpg likely to be less but with the BIK saving reckon I can live with that

Took delivery of a Golf GTE 4 weeks ago replacing my Golf GTD, chose the GTE this time as it was around £100pm cheaper. So far absolutely love it, nice face lift to the Golf. The DSG gearbox is extremely smooth very impressed by that, drives very well but it does feel heavy at the back end a little so not as great as the GTD for cornering but it’s not meant to be a hot hatch.

Economy is excellent.

I wouldn’t buy anything from a company that’s so far up the creek. You’re going to be relying on them for recalls, warranty, servicing etc. and I think the risk of being left flapping in the breeze is too high.

Company car so none of that worries me.

Thanks Drac. I know handling will be compromised but can live with that

Really? VW really aren’t struggling at all the diesel fiasco has caused them very little harm.

lazlowoodbine – Member
I wouldn’t buy anything from a company that’s so far up the creek. You’re going to be relying on them for recalls, warranty, servicing etc. and I think the risk of being left flapping in the breeze is too high.

Don’t worry too much about VW. They’ll still be around for a while.

VW are too important for Germany to allow them to fail, it just wouldn’t happen and in any scenario the cars, parts, servicing business would continue.

I looked at one before going for the 2.0 diesel. From what I could read and see. 400 ish miles to a tank (700 real world for the Dielsel). Having to charge from a plug and getting only 30 miles from a charge. For me it wasn’t worth the hastle and crap mpg compared to the default diesel. But I do 30k+ miles a year.

As a car i think its ok. Don’t think its as quiet as my “old” 2014 passat. You can hear more engine noise.
I would give it a 7/10.

I don’t think they’ll be allowed to fail but they’re paying out huge amounts in fines etc. and something has to give. Customer service is usually one of the first things to suffer.

I quite like VWs, I’ve had several and currently own two but I wouldn’t touch a new one.

400 ish miles to a tank (700 real world for the Dielsel). Having to charge from a plug and getting only 30 miles from a charge

It charges while it drives too even then refuelling a one is hardly a hassle.

But for me it would mean fuelling up twice in a week. Twice the amount of paperwork for the fuel card.
I can see the point if you do mostly short trips and the occasional long trip where the electric range doesn’t matter.
Iff you have a charging point at home and a guaranteed charging point at the destination then brilliant you can double your ev range. But the places I visit with work don’t have charging points. So for most of the time its a big petrol car dragging around the extra weight of the batteries for no gain.

Ah! I see now apart from the paperwork part.

You don’t need a charging point at home though VW supply 2 charging cables, one for domestic supply and another for charge points. Charging points for your destination would be a great bonus.

Looking at real figures for Passat it’s around 52.3mpg which is almost 600 on a tank full.

I think I can make it work. I’m in construction and travel between a number of different sites around east Sussex. Hq is 15 miles away although I’m not there that often. Furthest is about 50 miles. Occasionally go further afield and travel to Germany a few times a year where I’d take a hit.

Think I could charge at some sites although 230v cables aren’t welcomed on construction sites. I really like the sound of DSG and getting away from diesel. And over £100 a month less BIK

Looking at real figures for Passat it’s around 52.3mpg which is almost 600 on a tank full.

I *think* the problem with those maths is that inorder to get 53mpg you need the electric motor helping plus you also need to be going a lt a nice steady pace on the motorway, but unless you’re braking the batteries don’t charge? So whilst it can get 53mpg it can’t do it long enough to get 600 miles from a tank?

I’d be interest to know if I’m right?

Sounds like you’re sold on the idea so go for it. I’ve thought about going for a Golf GTE next time I change, in 18 months or so. Times are changing…

Colleague has one so I’ll give him a shout tomorrow and see how he’s getting on with it as his use is most likely similar to mine. Will get a drive of it if our paths cross in the next couple of weeks

I *think* the problem with those maths is that inorder to get 53mpg you need the electric motor helping plus you also need to be going a lt a nice steady pace on the motorway, but unless you’re braking the batteries don’t charge? So whilst it can get 53mpg it can’t do it long enough to get 600 miles from a tank?[

I’d be interest to know if I’m right?

It’s taken from Honest John’s so I’m not sure of type driving but it gives a good idea of real world miles.

You’re very nearly right. They have 3 modes which they can charge from; braking, charge mode while driving but that pushes the economy down and there’s B mode which uses the engine braking too.

Just my Golf on 27m route, mixture if dual carriageway and B roards on the way there and A/B roads on the way back. I put hybrid mode to see what it would do, return journey was 148mpg the battery was down to 3 miles when we got back home. Outward the app tells me it 134mpg taking the dual carriagway.

Try one Davo see what you think and talk to your friend who does similar journeys. With shorter runs like you do and the possibiility of charging it may make sense. At weekends when the Mrs is popping around town in ours it never uses an ounce of petrol.

I was a huge diesel fan and loved my GTD but times have changed the cost of those now reflects that.

Can you look at BMW too? The 330e is extremely good value as a company vehicle and very very rapid !

Yes some good deals appear for those too.

but unless you’re braking the batteries don’t charge?

Dunno about this specific car but on the Toyota’s they skim excess energy from the petrol engine to charge the battery. This means you need to throttle the air intake less which makes the engine more efficient as well as capturing the energy that would have been lost.

Coming up to 18 months & 25K with a leased Golf GTE and been v. happy with it. Check the BIK rates, as they change each year. Longest w.o. refilling has been 410 miles. I’d need to check overall economy, but reckon it’s about 80 mpg, due to much of my driving being a 15 mile commute under electric – it’s about 40-45 mpg on petrol on A roads/Motorway cruising,

I have the estate GTE. 7000 miles in after 6 months. I like the fact i have only filled up 8 times in doing that. I commute on electric. Loads of room for bikes& camping gear. Nice & comfy on longer journeys. Go faster button when you need it. speakev forum has lots more real world info rather than the twaddle we sprout on here.

Nope to 330e, we have a list to choose from. Got 3 kids so need the space of the Passat anyway.

Will check out HJ and speakev forum, thanks.

lazlowoodbine – Member
I don’t think they’ll be allowed to fail but they’re paying out huge amounts in fines etc. and something has to give. Customer service is usually one of the first things to suffer.

I quite like VWs, I’ve had several and currently own two but I wouldn’t touch a new one.

Why not ? Service is as good as it ever was and no reason to change. The fines are a drop in the ocean of their gross profit. We’ve had a new Tiguan for 18 months and we didn’t need ANY service anyway, unsurprisingly. I don’t understand your rationale.

We’ve had one for about a month and a half, we both like it. My wife is pleased as it drives like a normal car, so no problem people getting used to it.

For long and motorway journeys the adaptive cruise control is good, will go down to stationary too if you’re brave enough. For my wife’s commute of about 12-14 miles each way it’s been on mainly electric since we’ve had it.

Journeys up to about 75 miles you can get 70+mpg if the battery is full when you leave. Our longest trip so far was 1000+ miles each way across Europe, so the electricity ran out quite quickly, and even at German motorway speeds it was averaging 45+mpg.

The only draw back we’ve found is the lack of fast charging and we wish it had a bigger battery.

Thanks for that willrab, sounds good. What sort of speeds were you doing across Europe to get 45mpg on petrol?

In hybrid mode if you input your destination to the satnav does it adjust the battery use to extend it out a bit further on longer runs, i.e. run on the petrol motor more?

Having just checked on the Car-Net app it appears we averaged about 42mpg so not quite as good. Average speed was just over 60mph, but that included road works and stops.

In hybrid mode it has done pretty well at getting us to the destination on Sat Nav as the electricity runs out, but not sure if this is coincidence or not. You can go up to 80mph on electric, but the range does drop drastically.

It’s great at coasting, so lifting your foot off the throttle gets best economy.

I’d be happy with that, wouldn’t expect to get more than 45mpg overall from a 2l diesel

A report of 42mpg doesn’t mean much on its own. We’d need to know what your driving style and journey patterns are like.

In contrast to davosaurusrex I usually get 52mpg or so from a tank in my 2l diesel and 60mpg on a long trip which is more than most so I’d hope to get more than 42 from a GTE.

A report of 42mpg doesn’t mean much on its own. We’d need to know what your driving style and journey patterns are like.

It’s up there. Car-net lets you check individual journeys.

I’d be happy enough with that on a long run on petrol only, if you sit at 80mph I’d be suprised to achieve that to be honest. Had a look at the sites I’ll be at most for the next 2 years and they are 15, 27, 28, 36, 37, 45 and 2 at 47 miles away, all mixed routes so I’d be hoping for mid to high 50s.

I’ve just changed vehicle from a 2.4ltr diesel SUV to a Petrol Hybrid SUV and I’m very happy indeed. Frankly it took a little getting used to (but I have owned a Prius years ago) and am very happy with mpg. I’ve been playing with the “up tap” on the accelerator that kicks it into battery mode whilst doing less than 40mph and have found if I think about driving it carefully like this and taking advantage of the hybrid I can achieve aves of 68mpg on routes that I normally do (motorways, A roads, small B roads and lanes)
I do drive like a grandad though, so always had good MPG form the diesel (aves 45) but that was a lump of a car, but now I often see the aves hit mid 70’s and fall down to no less than 58 then ave out at 65-68..
I think thats quite astonishing TBH, the drive is much nicer and comfort is way better as it sort of glides..
It does take a little adapting though, changing the way you drive and anticipation is key I’ve found to achieve great mpg.

Loving mine (not VW)

It’s up there. Car-net lets you check individual journeys.

I disagree.

Hybrids are very much effected by driving style, how much you like your heater on, whether you use your windscreen wipers, whether you live in a hilly area, the list goes on.

If you are buying a hybrid for commuting to work, and your commute is within 50% of the total claimed range, then you may never fill up again.

All of the above start playing in to the mpg figures though if you start doing near or above maximum range.

Currently my avg mpg is pretty much on par with the old eco diesel it replaced.

Had a look at the sites I’ll be at most for the next 2 years and they are 15, 27, 28, 36, 37, 45 and 2 at 47 miles away, all mixed routes so I’d be hoping for mid to high 50s.

My wife uses ours 4 days a week to travel 44 return journey to work, she’s never managed to get on a charger at work as the hybrids have become very popular. The trip is around 50% good roads and 50% not great A roads more like B roads, that’s Northumberland for you. Her average outbound is about 82mpg return it’s about 48 mpg, she tells me she puts it hybrid on the main A road and then electric mode on the B type roads about halfway.

If she could get charged at the other end everyday the average on return would go up to but getting in the 50s and 60s is good. Still even better is the avenger overall of 68.9mpg. Carnet is awesome.

Yes Funkydunc that’s individual journeys, heaters do effect the electric motor more but they effect economy in all cars too as does driving style.

Presumably you can toggle modes half way through.. so you can leave it in EV for town, then put the IC on in the middle and EV at the far end? Does the Satnav do this for you if you programme a destination?

Drac – unless I am misunderstanding, she’s doing it wrong. You should use battery in built up areas and low speed acceleration. Using battery st speed and on open roads is not efficient. The combustion engine is more efficient at cruising speeds/open roads

A report of 42mpg doesn’t mean much on its own. We’d need to know what your driving style and journey patterns are like.

That would have been no battery power due to lack of charger where we were staying, then about 700 miles across Poland and Germany mostly on the Autostrada and Autobahns with a car load of luggage from the holiday. Having done the same journey in a 1.9TDi Octavia previously I think that averaged just over 45mpg over the same route and same drivers.

Drac – unless I am misunderstanding, she’s doing it wrong. You should use battery in built up areas and low speed acceleration. Using battery st speed and on open roads is not efficient. The combustion engine is more efficient at cruising speeds/open roads

You need to know the roads around here I suppose. She uses hybrid mode when on the A1 which is part dual and part singlecarrageway good open roads, the rest of the journey is A roads that are lower speeds around 45mph average and part through built up areas.

Presumably you can toggle modes half way through.. so you can leave it in EV for town, then put the IC on in the middle and EV at the far end? Does the Satnav do this for you if you programme a destination?

No idea about the Satnav as I don’t have it but the hybrid mode is pretty good at working out when to use which engine. You can of course choose; full electric, hybrid, battery hold which disable the electric all together and charge mode to charge the electric while driving.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/engines/gte/theres-a-mode-for-that

That would have been no battery power due to lack of charger where we were staying, then about 700 miles across Poland and Germany mostly on the Autostrada and Autobahns with a car load of luggage from the holiday. Having done the same journey in a 1.9TDi Octavia previously I think that averaged just over 45mpg over the same route and same drivers.

That’s a good comparison then. The GTE then was probably lower on CO2 given the lower CO2 emissions per litre of petrol, not to mention far lower NOx and particulates. And that’s a worst case scenario for the GTE.

full electric, hybrid, battery hold which disable the electric all together and charge mode to charge the electric while driving

I wonder how much MPG you lose whilst charging the battery?

I wonder how much MPG you lose whilst charging the battery?

I tried it once I see if I can find the data.

Ok. Hard to narrow it down as it’s linked with another journey but looks like 48mpg.

Just a reminder I have the Golf version.