New Golf GTE from VW sets a new benchmark

But what if you could have the GTi's combination of performance and practicality while carving a big chunk out of your running costs?

That's just what some drivers will get this month as they take delivery of the first GTEs,

It's a hybrid, using a combination of petrol and electric motors to produce very similar levels of power and performance but with very substantial savings on fuel and therefore CO2 emissions.

Those who will benefit most, of course, are company car drivers who will find their 'benefit in kind' tax reduced to the lowest rate of five per cent. That will be increasingly important as HMRC plans will be hitting all company car users hard soon.

Combination

Under the bonnet is the well-proven 1.4 litre TFSI turbocharged petrol engine working in combination with a 102PS electric motor. They can provide drive individually or together in which case you have a total of 204PS and hefty 350Nm of torque.

That compares with 210PS for the GTi and 184PS for its diesel equivalent: no surprise, then, that the GTE does the benchmark 0 to 62mph dash in 7.6 seconds, compared to 7.3 and 7.5 respectively for its more conventional stablemates.

Its list price is also competitive at £33,035, or £28,035 after the £5,000 government grant for plug-in hybrid cars,

Where there is a difference is fuel consumption – the official figures are an average 36.7mpg for the GTi, 62.8mpg for the GTD and a whopping 166mpg for the GTE based on the same computer-controlled test regime. That translates into a carbon dioxide emission rating of just 39g/km which is crucially important as it's the figure on which the government bases its VED and benefit in kind tax charges.

So, as well as no road tax to pay, company car drivers swapping from a similar petrol-powered machine with, for example, 180g/km of CO2, will find their tax liability falling from 31 per cent to just five per cent.

Now it's generally accepted that the phenomenal MPG figures quoted for hybrids are largely academic as the official test doesn't replicate real world conditions. But on the first part of my own unscientific test it was set to 'hybrid auto' mode whereby the electric motor helps out the petrol engine, automatically and seamlessly.

The result was that the trip meter was showing an average mpg in the high 60s and still climbing while progress was almost silent.

On the second half I made what was, with hindsight, a mistake and switched to 'recharge battery' mode which cuts off electric assistance and means the petrol engine has to work harder. As a result, average economy dropped to a still acceptable mid 50s.

One of the four operating modes can be very easily controlled with just two finger strokes on the centre touch screen, which as usual also controls such functions as SatNav, audio and driver information.

The GTE starts in 'E-Mode', which given the torque characteristics of an electric motor ensures a quick getaway in any case. But there's a second 'GTE' button in the centre console which sets the car alight, unleashing the full 204PS potential for a very rapid overtaking manoeuvre – no different to changing down a gear or two, which most of us would do unconsciously in such circumstances. Staying in GTE mode, though, does mean you'll also rapidly sap your battery power and that rather defeats the object.

The GTE has a theoretical range of around 30 miles on electric power alone, which obviously stretches when it's assisted by the petrol engine.

The batteries can be recharged from any 13amp socket in around three hours 45 minutes, but you can cut that by 90 minutes if you have dedicated wallbox fitted at home or work. VW also supplies a lead to match the increasing number of fast chargers appearing at, for example, motorway services which cuts charging time still further.

So, depending on your driving style and type of journey, it really is not beyond the realms of possibility that you could be using the GTE for, say commuting, while hardly ever having to trouble the oil companies.

You can remotely manage the GTE's charging from a smart phone app (provided you plugged the car in first, of course).

Inside the GTE, the only really difference to its conventional counterparts is the driver display which shows battery range, whether power is being used and the intensity of power regeneration.

Probably the only reason that the GTE is marginally slower on the 0 to 62mph dash than the GTi/GTD is the 120kgs of lithium batteries. But the battery pack is installed low down and in front of the rear axle so it doesn't seem to affect the legendary roadholding and handling of its stablemates, at least on public roads.

The most tangible difference is in boot space. Because of the battery pack and repositioning of the fuel tank, the GTE's boot is around 100 litres smaller – 272 litres with the rear seats up, 1,162 with them folded flat,

The GTE is fitted as standard with a specially developed version of the Audi/VW six-speed DSG dual clutch transmission with the option of very quick manual changes using paddles behind the steering wheel.

There's only one standard specification for the GTE, which mirrors the flagship status of the GTi/GTD.

There is the same safety technology, such as anti-lock brakes, stability control, electronic differential lock and multiple airbags. Other features include sports front seats, electric windows, automatic headlights, parking sensors, climate control and a top grade infortainment system.

The Golf is one of the car industry's biggest success stories: worldwide sales topping 30 million and a 40 year history which its more sporting models like the GTi and, more recently the even more powerful Golf R, constantly setting the standards by which others are judged (and by which they judge themselves).

Now the GTE sets a new benchmark for its combination of performance and economy, and the hybrid's launch makes it the only car to offer FIVE different power sources – the others being petrol, diesel, pure electric and compressed natural gas, although the latter hasn't made it to these shores.

By John Griffiths