► Plug-in Golf GTE updated
► Costs £3420 less than the old one
► Orders still closed due to high demand
Announced in 2017, a facelifted GTE introduced a lower price, better trim levels and the same styling updates as the rest of the Mk7.5 VW Golf range – and it looks to have proven more popular than Volkswagen expected. For more information about the GTE, keep reading.
You can’t buy one right now..
If you’re after a new, hybrid Golf GTE in 2018, you’re going to have to wait a while. According to Volkswagen’s own website, orders have the 2017 GTE have been temporarily stopped due to demand. A message on the UK model page reads: ‘Due to unprecedented demand, leading to long delivery lead times, we are temporarily closing Golf GTE to order.’ VW’s other electrified models, including the Passat GTE and e-Golf don’t seem to be affected.
A spokesman from Volkswagen UK told CAR magazine: ‘Due to bottlenecks in production and in order to not impose unreasonable waiting times on our customers for new car orders, temporarily the Golf GTE cannot be ordered. We will inform you as soon as this model is available to order again.’
Best hybrid cars in 2018: read CAR’s guide here
Customer demand for the Golf GTE leapt around 27% in 2017, according to a UK spokesman, despite the overall market shrinking by at least 5%. It is not clear at this stage where the production bottleneck lies and how Volkswagen plans to address it.
Golf GTE: So what’s new?
- A lower price – approximately £3420 less than the pre-facelift Golf GTE, model for model.
- A posher trim level, the GTE Advance, to sit above the entry-level GTE. It adds bigger wheels, a bigger touchscreen, tinted windows and heated seats.
- Same updates as the rest of the ‘Mk7.5’ Golf range: gently redrawn all-LED headlamps, an animated digital instrument panel (same Active Info Display available in the Passat), semi-autonomous braking and pull-away in traffic jams, and a choice of larger touchscreens mid-dash, among sundry smaller tweaks.
How much does the VW Golf GTE cost?
Excluding the current government plug-in car grant, the entry-level Golf GTE costs £30,635 and the GTE Advance £32,135.
Both are available with a five-door hatchback shell only.
Click here for seven things you need to know about the facelifted 2017 Golf range.
What makes the plug-in hybrid Golf go?
As before, the combination of a 148bhp 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 75kW electric motor, with a total system output of 201bhp. The battery can be pre-charged from the mains in around 3hrs45mins, or 2hrs15mins from a wallbox.
Optimum range under electric power only is 31 miles, same figure as the pre-facelift GTE, with a total range of more than 500 miles when both the fuel tank and the 8.7kWh battery pool their resources.
Likewise there’s no change to the pre-facelift GTE’s performance figures: 0-62mph in a useful 7.6sec and 138mph flat-out. Factoring its electric range in, the entry-level GTE has CO2 emissions rated at 38g/km, and the larger-wheeled GTE Advance at 40g/km.