Volkswagen Passat GTE Review

Electrifying.com score

8/10

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Don’t be fooled by the sporty GTE badging, as the Passat is a smooth cruiser that’s stylish and could be great for company car drivers.


  • Battery size: 13 kWh
  • Company car tax: 11%
  • Emissions: 29 g/km
  • Range: 35 miles (electric)
  • Fuel economy: 135 MPG
  • Battery size: 13 kWh
  • Company car tax: 11%
  • Emissions: 29 g/km
  • Range: 35 miles (electric)
  • Fuel economy: 135 MPG
  • VW Passat GTE
  • VW Passat GTE
  • VW Passat GTE
  • VW Passat GTE
  • VW Passat GTE

Ginny Says

“The Passat is a great choice for company car drivers who need to do bigger journeys than a full EV will allow. The only real issue I'd have recommending it is that the Skoda Superb iV is a bigger car which uses the same engine, battery and motors - but costs less.”

Tom Says

“A proper, useful, handsome plug-in estate is a wonderful thing, and the GTE does everything you expect, plus a bit more. The usual caveats apply though - if you fail to plug in and hammer up and down motorways all day, you only use the 1.4-litre combustion engine. And that’s not where big mpg is found.”

It’ll take three-and-a-half hours to fully charge the Passat GTE and like most plug-in hybrids you can’t rapid charge it.

  • Range:35 miles
  • Battery:13 kWh
  • Home wallbox/Public charger (3.6kW):3.5 hours
  • Fast charging 20-80% (50kW):n/a
  • Super Fast charging 20-80% (150kW):n/a
VW Passat GTE
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Range

The Passat GTE has a 13kWh battery which Volkswagen claims gives a pure electric range of around 35 miles. That’s in perfect conditions and is completely dependent on the time of year (seasonal temperatures), traffic conditions and how heavy your right foot is. A realistic average would be between 25 and 30 miles, and it’s a good idea to top up the batteries as often as you can. So make sure you plug it in overnight, make use of public charging points and download the ‘We Connect e-Remote’ smartphone app to monitor your battery range and stop and start charging.

Battery

As the 13kWh battery isn’t any bigger in size than the 9.9kWh battery in the old Passat GTE, VW has been able to put it under the rear seats and in front of the rear wheels again. That means, in theory, practicality has not been affected and for the most part that’s true. However, the battery and motor’s electric hardware have to be stored somewhere and unfortunately that’s under the boot floor. So, particularly in the Passat Estate, virtually all the underfloor storage space has gone apart from a small cubby which can be used to store the charging cables. There’s still a huge amount of space on offer, though and it’s a small price to pay.

Charging

Unlike many plug-in hybrids, Volkswagen actually gives you two charging cables when you buy a Passat GTE. For some reason, a few manufacturers actually charge you for a cable which is ridiculous. With the GTE, you get one with a three-pin plug and another to plug into a home wallbox or a public charging point. The charging port is neatly hidden behind the front grille; pop it open and there’s the Type 2 input. Here you’ll also see you can’t rapid charge it – the maximum charging rate is 3.6kW (a zero-to-80% charge takes three and half hours) which is slow by modern standards. 

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