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[=” ” ]Update: The federal government now has the Promotion of e-mobility decided, We are therefore updating once again the e-car articles, tests and driving reports. This original article is from the 23. July 2015
Amsterdam - first test
Nothing will go past the plug-in hybrid in the next few years. Be it because a plug-in hybrid fits exactly into your own usage profile or just because the manufacturer has a model for the “S“fine calculation” of fleet consumption needed. Plug-in hybrids are the bridge technology with which we save our individual mobility into the future. No matter what is called at the pump for absurd gasoline prices.
Wind of Change
Driving report: VW Passat GTE
The technocrat can do it!
You can't accuse the VW Passat of having a playful design. The clear edge, the complete concentration on objectivity, comes from Wolfsburg. The current Passat (B8), introduced last year, looks sober and serious like a senior finance official. In this case, only the “blue” edge on the radiator grille shimmers a little unusually and the bracket-shaped LED daytime running lights also reveal the difference.
The power of two hearts. In the Passat GTE, Volkswagen combines a turbo petrol engine with an electric motor based on the MQB modular system. The 115 hp electric machine was placed between the petrol engine and the double clutch transmission. In conjunction with the 8.7 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the limousine should now be able to travel purely electrically for up to 50 km.
The system performance of the 1.4 liter turbo petrol engine and the 85 kW electric motor is given by Volkswagen with 218 hp, the combined power of both drives should provide more than confident propulsion with 400 Nm. If you look at the paper values, then 7.4 seconds up to 100 km / h and a top speed of 225 km / h are definitely values with which you can not only impress senior finance officials.
The plug-in hybrids are then really tempting when it comes to fuel consumption. With a NEDC value of 1.7-1.6 liters of gasoline on 100 km one believes in the beatification. And presumably water tanks in the trunk also turn into wine boxes.
No – one thing must be very clear when it comes to plug-in hybrids: “standard consumption values” are as relevant in reality as condoms are in the parsonage. You don't need both.
First test of the Passat GTE - this is how it drives:
Volkswagen invited to Amsterdam to find out what the Passat GTE can do and what consumption is realistically possible in the end. Which makes sense. In the Netherlands, electric vehicles and hybrids are massively subsidized - in addition, the Netherlands already has renewable energies (wind, water, sun) with almost 15% in the electricity mix.
Silence. Always good.
The test car is at the airport with charged batteries. Pressing the button brings the Passat to life - but without noise. Only the air conditioning starts to rustle quietly. The on-board instrument shows 49 km of battery-electric range. Selector lever on D, the electric parking brake releases automatically - and the Passat GTE hums almost silently towards the exit.
In E mode, the Passat uses the battery power as long as it is available. The primary goal is then to drive electrically. From the airport, the route leads towards the motorway. The Passat would play along in E mode up to 130 km / h, and the petrol engine would also be required. However, the highways in the Netherlands are fun-free zones. Tempo 100 to 120 - more is not allowed.
ACC and the castle Passat
Hybrid driving relaxed. And motorways around Amsterdam and “out of the city” make sense to drive with cruise control and “active cruise control”, the distance radar. Set to the permitted speed, the GTE recuperates as soon as its radar detects: Oops, the person in front is too slow - please slow down. In this way, unnecessary energy is fed back.
The entire system - when combined with the active lane keeping assistant - works so perfectly that autonomous vehicles are actually expected within a year. For the first 30 km you keep looking at the battery display in the instrument cluster. Everything is going well, it feels so “right”. Stream silently. The tires roll, the wind rustles a little - but all in all it is the calm of a castle that you feel connected to in the current trade winds. Field service workers love the Passat. The level of processing and the “simple” operating structure explain this love.
When it comes down the freeway after almost 40 km, the Passat GTE has drained its batteries. But - 40 km purely electric. This is a very respectable value for the factory specification of 50 km, especially since the longest distance was driven by cruise control in the three-digit range. Every km / h less extends the electrical range. Market companions have not been so convincing!
The battery pack of the GTE costs the Passat 180 liters of cargo space volume, but as previously defined the class standard, the loss is justifiable.
Double heart, for more pulse!
0.0 liters per 100 km - you would now park the Passat GTE again at the socket and charge it. This happens within 4 hours 15 minutes at a normal household socket, and 3.6 hours 2 minutes on a Type II plug wallbox with 30 kW charging power.
So far the theory. After the battery is empty, we drive the remaining 20 km in hybrid mode. Now the 1.4 liter TSI drives the big Passat GTE. Once braked, the vehicle recuperates the energy, spares the brake system and gathers strength for the next sprint.
For the return trip, the Passat is recharged and now we start in GTE mode. That means: maximum fun thanks to maximum performance. Now the Passat lives on, its extra weight of 170 kg hides behind the joyous start of the 400 Nm. In the GTE mode, he also tightened his variable dampers (DCC) and the interior acoustics is trimmed to dynamics. This creates a lasting feeling of driving pleasure.
Conclusion
Gray is the theory
What you really consume now? We used 4.0 on 100, on 61 driven kilometers and additionally 7.6 kWh of electricity.
It depends on the distance to the nearest outlet. With a sensible electric range of 40 km, the Passat is an ideal family car. Loaded at the socket and in everyday life then mostly purely electric on the way. Or who commutes a maximum of 40 km and then may load during working hours. But he also does not have to fear the long haul. The efficient 1.4 Turbo fits well with the plug-in Hybrid Passat system. If you leave the loading area, you should not take the standard consumption seriously.
Buying a plug-in hybrid only makes sense if you have the chance to plug the plug into the socket every time you park.
The Passat GTE costs, better equipped than its brothers, from 44.250 € and will be delivered from September.
[toggle title=”Engine and Transmission”]
Volkswagen Passat |
GTE |
| design type | Four cylinder turbo + electric motor |
| Capacity | 1.395 ccm³ |
| Performance | 166 PS / 5.000 -6.000 rpm (gasoline engine) 85 kW @ 2.500 rpm (electric motor) |
| kraft | 250Nm / 1.600 - 3.500 rpm (petrol engine) 400 Nm (overall system) |
| Transmission | 6-gear double clutch |
| drive axle | front-wheel drive |
| Length Width Height | 4.757, 1.832, 1.456 mm |
| wheelbase | 2.791 mm |
| Empty weight | 1.735 kg |
| turning circle | - |
| top speed | 225 km / h |
| Acceleration 0-100 km / h | 7,4 sec |
| standard consumption | 1.7 - 1.6 l / 100 km |
| base Price | 44.250 € |
| Test car price | - |
| Insurance | - |
| Motor vehicle tax | - |
| - | |
| Use opportunities | medium |
| depreciation | medium |