Volkswagen Passat GTE (2015 – 2024) Review

If there’s anything less offensive in the motoring world than a Volkswagen Passat then we’ve yet to discover it, and with the GTE the Passat gets even more sensible thanks to a plug-in hybrid powertrain. It mates a 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine with an electric motor and battery, which has enough power when fully charged to allow the Passat GTE up to 34 miles of quiet, electric-only motoring. It, like its conventionally powered relations, is offered in both saloon and estate guises, with the estate not just being bigger, but the bigger seller of the pair.

A plug-in Passat is about as sensible a car as you could ask for, the perennial family and business buyer’s favourite made even more appealing with the addition of a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

The Passat GTE is the result, a car that’s able to drive as far as 34 miles on its battery power alone, which should cover the average commute for most owners. If you’re travelling further, then the 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine gives the GTE greater, long-legged range, with the electric motor still assisting at the same time. 

That, like so many plug-ins, gives the Passat a genuinely useful duality, allowing short, local journeys to be undertaken on battery power, meaning no tailpipe emissions on school runs, shopping trips or the daily commute.

Should you wish to hold the battery’s charge for destination electric-only driving then there’s the possibility to do so with a battery hold mode, while the GTE will do that usual hybrid double act of blending both powertrains to maximise the economy on longer trips.

If economy isn’t necessarily your thing, unlikely given it’s a considerable part of the GTE’s make-up, then the GTE mode primes the drivetrain to give the best of the combined power to maximise sporting performance. 

The GTE’s plug-in drivetrain might be the headline act, but elsewhere the Passat GTE shares all the same characteristics of its conventionally-powered relations, and in some areas builds on them considerably.

It’s beautifully built inside and out, the styling classy and neat throughout, and the build quality and materials in the cabin is right up there with the best of the premium contenders. Where it gains over its conventionally-powered rivals is its smoothness and refinement, it particularly quiet and comfortable when driving in electric-only mode, with good performance, too.

That electric plug-in hybrid element to the drivetrain impacts on the running costs, too, with it particularly tax efficient if you’re running it as a company car. 

Set it to charge at night on a cheaper electricity rate, and, if your daily use is within its EV-only range, you’ll rarely need to stop at a petrol station to fill it up.

The GTE benefits from a greater specification than its middling Passat relations, with the GTE Advance being a veritable technological fest, so if you like your technology it’s the one to go for. Adding to the breadth of ability of the already impressive Passat, the GTE is a desirable plug-in, which benefits not just the environment, but your pocket, if you can ignore the not inconsiderable cost of buying it. 

The boot in the saloon offers between 586-1152 litres of capacity depending on whether you’ve got the seats up or down, with the GTE estate building on that with 650/1780 capacity, its seats also folding in a more useful 40/20/40 manner. That estate’s boot is more readily accessed, too, thanks to the large rear tailgate, over the saloon’s narrow opening. 

The rest of the cabin is spacious, with decent oddment storage throughout the beautifully finished interior, the deep lidded compartment between the seats particularly useful, while the glovebox is a good size, too.

There are a pair of Isofix child seat mounts in the rear, access to the rear seats better with the estate, thanks to the taller glass in the rear doors – something to consider if you’ve got kids to pop in seats in the back. 

Volkswagen has a good reputation for quality, and that’s evident in the GTE’s cabin. The design itself is neat and uncomplicated, and the materials used throughout all feel smooth and expensive to the touch, things like the frameless rear-view mirror only adding to the upmarket feel.

Both the GTE and the GTE Advance come with leather upholstery as standard, too, the Passat GTE’s cabin a demonstration of fine quality and refined, neat design. 

Being at the upper end of the Passat range means either of the GTE trims comes with a comprehensive infotainment offering.

The GTE gets Volkswagen’s Discover Navigation system with an 8-inch touchscreen, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity as well as a number of GTE specific menus for monitoring how you’re using and benefitting from the GTE’s plug-in hybrid powertrain.

The GTE Advance ups that offering by adding Discover Navigation Pro to that, it costing £2,200 if you want it with any other Passat. It brings a larger 9.2-inch touchscreen, 3D mapping and a 64gb SSD hard drive.

In addition to that the GTE Advance gains a 10.25-inch screen in place of the conventional instrumentation, it benefitting from all sorts of configurability, though, we’d perhaps suggest a standard GTE with the optional head-up display is a better all-round solution. 

Plug-in hybrids might bring with them the promise of more palatable running costs, but popping a big battery and an electric motor into the mix inevitably means an inflated purchase price.

The standard GTE weighs in at £38,760 and if you want the GTE Advance, and you’ll have to really want it, is £41,450. That’s about £10,000 more than you’ll pay for a conventionally powered Passat, or at least a middling model, the GTE coming with range-topping levels of specification to help justify its loftier purchase price.

You really could buy a Passat GTE and run it almost exclusively on battery power, meaning your petrol bill will be nominal.

Officially the Passat GTE returns a WLTP-tested combined consumption of 206.7mpg, but that’s all but impossible in everyday driving. In mixed driving, without any real effort we found an indicated 80mpg easily achievable.

Its plug-in status means you’ll pay less road and company car tax than conventionally-powered alternatives, while servicing shouldn’t be any more than them. Insuring it will be a bit more expensive thanks to the EV element of its powertrain both being potentially expensive to repair, as well as giving the GTE greater performance, the GTE being in group 26E and the GT Advance in group 28E.

Charging it at home from a wallbox will take anywhere between two to four hours to fill up that battery, and you can set it to charge at night when it’ll take advantage of cheaper tariffs. Alternatively, get yourself some solar or wind power at home, and you could, potentially, run the GTE, in EV mode at least, for next to nothing.  

The joy in driving the Passat GTE is largely derived from eking out as much range from its hybrid drivetrain as possible.

It rides and handles decently, with the suspension managing the task of providing decent comfort on our ravaged road surfaces, while maintaining fine body control. It’s competent, then, rather than exciting or remarkable, which, here, really isn’t a complaint. 

Both trims come with 17-inch alloy wheels as standard, and we’d suggest you leave them as they are, as optioning the larger choices only adds busyness to the GTE’s ride.

Volkswagen’s Dynamic Chassis Control (DDC) is optional, too, it bringing the choice of Normal, Comfort, Sport and Individual settings for the dampers, but we’d never have it out of Normal or Comfort – which is pretty much how the Passat’s suspension is set up without DDC - so it’s not really worth the additional expense.

The GTE has a pair of engines, a 115PS electric motor which works independently or in conjunction with a 156PS 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine.

That gives the GTE a combined system output of 218PS, not the 271PS you might imaging by just adding those two outputs together, though it’s enough to make the GTE a brisk performer if you need it to be.

It’ll reach 62mph in under 8 seconds, which is brisk, the instant kick you get from the EV drivetrain making it feel quicker on take off than the numbers suggest, too. It’ll drive around easily on electricity alone, the petrol motor only kicking in when you floor the accelerator, and even then only briefly.

In hybrid auto mode it’ll juggle and combine both motors to produce the best overall economy. All are front-wheel drive, and automatic, the gearbox being slick in its shifting, the hybrid powertrain being very well integrated here, with the operation and switching between the motors being all but imperceptible.  

The Passat GTE comes with the comprehensive array of active and passive safety aids of its regular Passat relation. There’s ABS brakes with Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Pressure Distribution, a post collision braking system and a host of airbags including front driver and passenger, side, curtain and a knee airbag for the driver on the Passat GTE.

The GTE also comes with a pre-crash warning system that’ll autonomously brake, a tyre pressure loss indicator, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Assist, Travel Assistant, City Emergency Braking and Traffic Jam Assist.

There’s also electronic stability control as well as traction control, the regular Passat gaining a maximum five star score in the EuroNCAP crash tests back in 2014, and there’s no reason why the GTE would perform any differently. Indeed, since those crash tests, the Passat line up - including the GTE – has benefitted from a host of revisions, including even greater standard active and passive safety equipment.

The GTE can be equipped with a towbar, Volkswagen’s trailer stability assist as well as its trailer assist optionally, which helps with reversing with a trailer.

The GTE loses out to some of its diesel and petrol Passat relations in towing weights, with the unbraked limit being 750kg, and the braked limit being 1600kg (some regular Passats able to tow as much as 2000kg). It’ll tow, then, competently, but if towing’s high on your list of priorities then you might be better served by a diesel Passat with 4Motion four-wheel drive. 

The Passat GTE comes in either GTE or GTE Advance specification. 

GTE comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, DAB Radio, Bluetooth, driver alert system, post collision brake system, adaptive cruise control, auto lights, auto wipers, front and rear parking sensors, touchscreen system with navigation, heated seats, three-zone climate control, charging port, 16 Amp AC charge cable, 10 Amp mains charge cable, LED headlights and Car-Net subscription.

GTE Advance gains LED premium exterior lighting, Pro navigation with larger 8.0-inch touchscreen, panoramic sunroof, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection, 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster, 360-degree around-view parking camera and Nappa leather upholstery.