Volkswagen Golf GTE (2015-2020) Review

Of all the Volkswagen Golf variants it is probably the hot hatch GTI that is the most well-known. No doubt Volkswagen decided to play on that popularity when it created the GTE, which adds some additional tech to its powertrain. 

And the tech in question is plug-in hybrid tech, designed to give short-distance drivers all the benefits of an electric car (or often referred to as an EV for short), while also completely eliminating range anxiety by also having a petrol engine to take over when the battery power runs out. Best of both worlds? Well, for the right sort of driver with the right sort of driving habits, it could well be. 

For now, though, let’s park the fact that the Volkswagen Golf GTE is a plug-in hybrid, and just consider its merits as a car, and even then, there’s a vast amount to like. For starters, it’s just as desirable as any other Volkswagen Golf. It’s just as posh inside, it’s just as civilised and as refined, and just as enjoyable and as comfortable to drive. Sure, although it’s very quick, it’s not quite nimble enough to be the Volkswagen Golf GTI-alternative that Volkswagen claims, but it’s still pretty darn good.

Like any other Volkswagen Golf, it’s also an ergonomic masterclass, with logical, easy-to-use controls and a fuss-free layout. Visibility is great and equipment levels are decent, and that’s whether you’re talking about luxury kit or safety kit. Granted, depending on the grade and age of the car you’re considering, you might not get sat-nav or Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and the boot isn’t quite as big as in a regular Golf, but otherwise, there’s very little to complain about with the Volkswagen Golf GTE.

It's not a cheap car by any means, but consider all the talent - not to mention the technology - you’re getting for your money, it still feels well worth the outlay. Highly recommended and one of the best hybrid cars you can buy. 

If you're looking for the newer version, you need our Volkswagen Golf GTE review.

If you want a car with class and sophistication, but you still like saving the pennies, then the idea of the Volkswagen Golf GTE will be very appealing indeed. If you also happen to live extremely close to your office, say within ten miles or so, then you’re just the sort of motorist whom the Volkswagen Golf GTE could suit. 

If that’s the case, then a nightly charge should get you to work and back on electric power alone, saving you a pretty penny on fuel. Then, at the weekends, you’ve still got a perfectly serviceable family car for longer trips, so you won’t need a second car. Perfect. Sure, the tax breaks for plug-in hybrids aren’t as compelling as they once were, but for the right person with the right sort of driving habits, there are still some useful savings to be made.

All Volkswagen Golf GTEs have the same drivetrain, a combination of a turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine and an electric motor. No decisions to be made there, then. All versions are also automatic, so no choice with transmission, and unlike some Volkswagens, there’s no choice of front- or four-wheel drive, either.

Your only real choice with the Volkswagen Golf GTE comes down to trim level. On early cars, there was one highly-specced trim level, and you just had to figure out whether or not you wanted to add optional satellite-navigation, which also added Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 64GB hard drive and a bigger touchscreen. 

Later, the Volkswagen Golf GTE Advance version has this as standard, along with heated seats, but the basic Volkswagen Golf GTE made do with a more basic system, albeit with the bigger screen and smartphone integration. Whatever the vintage of the car you’re looking at, though, we reckon it’s worth forking out the extra.

These costs remained reasonably constant throughout the car’s life despite big changes to the size of the grant, and when the higher spec GTE Advance version was introduced, it cost around £2,000 more than the standard model. The GTE isn’t a cheap car by any means, then, but it is a little more affordable than the Audi e-tron with which it shares most of its mechanicals.

And, because it’s been around for a good few years, used examples have had plenty of time to come down in price. Our listings show plenty of early examples for around the £15,000 mark, and that’s a lot of car for the cash.

When it was first released back in 2015, there wasn’t much like the Golf GTE. Plug-in hybrids weren’t all that common back then. Having said that, there was one car that was very much like it.

The Audi A3 e-tron was pretty much the same car underneath, even though it was fractionally more expensive. These days, though more similarly-sized PHEV hatchback choices are offered, including the Hyundai Ioniq and the Toyota Prius Plug-in. There are a range of SUV contenders in this market, too, such as the Kia Niro, Ford Kuga and Volvo XC40.

Even the smaller buttons on the steering wheel aren’t too fiddly to use, so this really is about as user-friendly as modern car interiors get. The instrument panel is clear and simple to read, and both the supportive sports seat and the steering wheel have bags of manual adjustment to help you get comfortable.

There’s no issue with front visibility, and your view out of the back of the car is also pretty clear thanks to a large, upright rear window flanked by slim pillars. Both versions of the Volkswagen Golf GTE also come with all-round parking sensors as standard, although a reversing camera costs extra.

In the passenger compartment, the Volkswagen Golf GTE is just as roomy and as practical as any other Golf. That means good space up front, and plenty of headroom and legroom in the rear for a pair of tall adults to get comfy. A wide middle seat means a third rear passenger won’t be too uncomfortable, either. Granted, they will have to straddle a bulky transmission tunnel, but that’s the case in the vast majority of cars. Fitting a pair of bulky child seats, meanwhile, will be, well, child's play.

Things are slightly different in the boot, because that space is a good bit smaller than you get in the regular Volkswagen Golf. That’s because the fuel tank has been moved to sit directly under the boot floor, so the floor has to be higher. 

You’ll still fit a fair few bags in, but you might want to look elsewhere if you regularly need to carry a pushchair. When you fold down the rear seats, they don’t go as flat as they do in a regular Golf, either, because the batteries - placed underneath the rear seats - get in the way. All in all, like the regular Golf, the Volkswagen Golf GTE does a thoroughly decent job on practicality, but without particularly dazzling like a Skoda Octavia does.

The Volkswagen Golf GTE dimensions are 4364mm long, 2027mm wide and 1457mm tall.

Despite the Volkswagen Golf GTE being a fairly lofty offering in the Golf range, early versions don’t do quite as well here as you might expect. Most of the basics are covered with the standard car. You get a 6.5-inch touchscreen,  with Bluetooth, DAB radio, a single CD player, eight speakers, a USB port and SMS (read and compose) functionality. 

You can also perform certain functions remotely through a smartphone app, functions like remote charging management and remote setting of the cabin temperature ready for when you get in. However, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto weren’t included, and neither was sat-nav, and you had to pay a lot extra to add it. This also brought a bigger 8.0-inch touchscreen and a 64GB hard drive. Later Volkswagen Golf GTE Advance versions got this system as standard, but again, the base car made do with a more basic system, albeit with the bigger screen and smartphone integration.

As touchscreens go, Volkswagen produces some of the better ones on the market. The graphics are clear, the menus are logical, response times are quick and the screen sensitivity is good. However, a touchscreen - even a good one - is still more distracting to use on the move than a rotary dial-operated alternative, due to the amount of concentration you have to put into hitting just the right bit of the screen. At least the Volkswagen Golf GTE has separate air-con controls, so you can change the cabin temperature without having to resort to swiping and tapping.

It’s a Volkswagen Golf, and Golfs always do really well in this area. The dashboard and door trims are lined with plenty of soft-touch plastics for a classy feel, and although there are some harder ones to be found lower down in the cabin, these are still smart to look at and nicely textured. You’ll also notice a fair amount of chrome detailing and glossy panelling designed to jazz things up even further, and it’s largely successful. 

This feels like a very classy environment, and there’s also a solid, substantial feel to the way everything is put together. If you’re familiar with the GTI, you’ll notice some similar styling traits, such as the stitching on the steering wheel, but where the motifs are red in the GTI, they’re blue in the GTE, giving it its own sense of identity.

The Volkswagen Golf GTE is powered by the combination of a 150PS 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 102PS electric motor, giving a maximum combined system output of 204PS. It can be run in a variety of different modes. In electric-only mode, the pace you get is more than enough for zipping around town, and the instantaneous responses and strong, seamless power delivery make the car feel really perky. You can travel up to 81mph in this setting.

On longer journeys, you’ll probably be best off using Hybrid mode, which juggles its two power sources for greatest efficiency. This happens so smoothly and seamlessly that you’re seldom aware of which power source is doing the heavy lifting at any one time. Battery Hold mode runs solely on petrol power, so that the charge in the battery can be kept for when you arrive in a city, while Charge mode uses the motor like a generator to top up the battery without you having to plug in.

GTE mode, meanwhile, combines the full force of both power sources for maximum performance. Don’t forget that the GTE badge’s resemblance to the GTI badge is no accident, and the hybrid version is very nearly as quick, you’ll rush from 0-62mph in just 7.6 seconds, and thanks to the electric motor’s extra low-down urge, the first 30mph of that happens particularly briskly. It’s more than quick enough to put a wide smile on your face.

According to official figures, the Volkswagen Golf GTE can go up to 31 miles on battery power before the petrol engine will be called upon to help out. Bear in mind, though, that this is the old-school NEDC figure, not the later WLTP figure, that was tested under a new standard designed to better reflect the circumstances of real-world driving. 

In fairness, though, neither figure should be trusted as both will be hopelessly optimistic, we reckon that if you manage 20miles before petrol power is called upon, you’ll be doing well, but even then, it'll be enough to deal with many people’s daily commute. 

The car comes as standard with two cables, one compatible with a three-pin domestic socket - which will charge the battery in just under four hours - and one compatible with a 7kW wallbox charger, that’ll do the job in a little over two.

You might detect ever-so-slightly more of a wallop over bigger, sharper-edged potholes than you would in a regular petrol or diesel Golf, and the difference really is marginal, so this is a very comfortable car indeed.

The handling is also very reminiscent of a regular Golf, with strong grip, tight body control and well-balanced, utterly predictable responses. This makes the car feel stable and secure, and if you seek out your favourite country road, there’s plenty of fun to be had. Granted, not as much as you’ll have in a GTI, because the Volkswagen Golf GTE doesn’t have quite the same crispness of steering or deftness of response, but to be fair, not that many cars can match a GTI for fun.

Pootle along in electric-only mode, and the Volkswagen Golf GTE is as quiet as any regular EV. There’s barely a noise from the motor as you pick up and scrub off speed - little more than a faint whirr - and even when the petrol engine kicks in to help out, it does so smoothly and seamlessly. 

The two power sources are juggled more or less imperceptibly, and even when the petrol engine is required to work hard, it stays reasonably quiet and impressively smooth. What’s more, the suspension barely makes any noise as it goes about its work, while wind-and road noise are also very well contained on the motorway. Whatever the driving situation, then, the Volkswagen Golf GTE is a very quiet and civilised way to get about.

Being a fairly high-spec member of the Golf family, the Volkswagen Golf GTE comes with most of the safety kit that this generation of car had to offer. Importantly, all Volkswagen Golf GTEs come with automatic emergency braking as standard, but also linked to the system is adaptive cruise control that can maintain a safe distance to the car in front when you're plodding along the motorway. 

All the usual tractions and stability aids are provided to help prevent you having an accident in the first place, and if one becomes unavoidable, there are seven airbags to help protect those inside, plus brakes that lock themselves on following a shunt to help prevent further impacts. 

Various other assistance systems - like lane keep assistant and blind spot warning systems - are offered, but only on the options list. Although the Volkswagen Golf GTE specifically hasn’t been subjected to Euro NCAP crash tests, the regular Golf Has. It achieved the maximum five-star rating, and we’ve no reason to think the Volkswagen Golf GTE would behave any differently in a smash.