GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Exonian on 17 July 2016, 14:46
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The Golf GTE, born out of a global requirement to reduce emissions (I never describe these cars as low pollution as the manufacture of them plus the electric and fuel they consume all pollute somewhere along the line, just theoretically less sh!te out of the exhaust in the immediate surroundings) but probably viewed by the average GTI enthusiast as a bit of a cop out along the lines of the mk1 GTD back in the late '70's.
So I'm guessing that unless you live in Northern France, Belgium maybe and of course the Netherlands plus possibly Anglia in the UK you're not going to see much battery life with all that weight going round countless bends and more so up hills. Then you also have a 1.4 petrol engine to double up as a generator and assist the battery with the hills.
Now, I appreciate that they probably look very attractive to company car buyers (who presumably aren't that bothered by driving dynamics) and are possibly even more attractive to people that live in cities like London (Manchester too?) that have low emissions zones where driving dynamics become irrelevant but who else would buy one?
I for one accept that vehicles like this are probably going to take over the world in the near future and that it's early technology yet but what are they like to drive?
The mk1 GTD was slow and vibrated like buggery and a far cry from what we now know the GTD as, so how does its modern equivalent in the trend setting of future Golfs shape up?
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I nearly sued VW over my GTE
Would never reccomend
Maybe wait for a MK8 in 2020 so they can iron out the thousands of issues which have been created by rushing a vehicle and then ending up with the unrealistic mpg statements and constant technical issues
If anyone has any questions, please go ahead I'll answer with all honesty
Just remember I am a GTD owner so the experience didn't put me off the brand; just the technology
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I nearly sued VW over my GTE
Would never reccomend
More details please Tory. VWs are usually ok (average reliability under warranty, but uusually go on and on in the later years), but when they're wrong from the start they're usually very wrong. Was your built and delivered to schedule, or were there any suspicious waits that might indicate remedial work at the factory?
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The car was ready over one month early.
Basically the week of the emissions scandal they had an eco event, and had a fleet of GTE's and E-trons about.
I believe my car was left over from their stock of Eco cars as the event was cancelled due to the scandal.
I was compensated for the fact my car broke down so many times, also was given an R as a courtesy car while they fixed mine. So backup of the complaint wasn't too bad
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I seriously considered one of these, what put me off (apart from the excess of doors) was that I thought I could commute on battery power alone but when I worked out the cost of my electricity, it was actually quite expensive! It wasn't much more to have a GTI so combined with the GTI being a better drive (less weight) with therefore being more fun plus being considerably less complex and cheaper to buy, it was a clear no brainer.
Tory, I'd be interested on your take of these points, ignoring the woeful reliability you suffered.
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I achieved 32-35 mpg, that would include probably one charge per tank of fuel but as I ran a fuel card I refused to charge at home and use my electricity.
I worked it out at £2.80 or something like that per full charge, working that back at 35mpg still seemed to cost 14p per mile which I'm sure must be similar to the gti
Now if we talk about my GTD I'm on 54ish mpg with a full tank achieving 510/520 miles per tank,
The GTD had a 30 or 35ltr tank too so I ended up spending more time fuelling up.... And time IS money
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I did about 80 miles in one as they gave me one for as a courtesy car whilst mine was with them for a warranty item.
Great concept but wasn't all that quick and from what I saw the MPG wasn't all that brilliant either. Better than my GTI but not by much. It may be a case of getting to know how to get the best from it.
The worst bit for me was the dreadful understeer, the front end is really heavy. There's a roundabout near my work which the GTI can go round quite enthusiastically but the GTE wouldn't have it.
They are the future but there's still a lot of work to do.
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The battery sat too far under the chassis which meant lowering would be a huge mistake. The problem with all these cars is the fact the resources used to manufacture them are far higher than for conventional cars, but it's a chicken and egg situation all manufacturers face. I got pretty angry about how so many parts had to be shipped from Germany and because of the battery being explosive it caused a huge ruckus at customs and was in holding for weeks while they decided if it was a bomb or not
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They are the future but there's still a lot of work to do.
Are they? I think they are just a fudge to better current standards but in the long run are too flawed to survive. Not sure what the future really is but hydrogen fuel cells must be a possibility.
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They are the future but there's still a lot of work to do.
Are they? I think they are just a fudge to better current standards but in the long run are too flawed to survive. Not sure what the future really is but hydrogen fuel cells must be a possibility.
I'm not convinced hybrids will be the future, but I believe full electric will. Just look at what Tesla have already achieved.
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I agree with you watts... Personally I'd say maximise the company car tax benefits for the company car drivers. First phase they realised 4x4 pickups would fall under company van tax at £70 per month and now the hybrids sat at 5% benefit in kind so £55 a month company car tax, for a 210bhp VW with gadgets is not to be missed.
I was worse off as I took it out under salary sacrifice as my company refused to take out a VW lease and wanted me to have a naff car under the company car scheme.
But I did my figures on the GTE and achieving a decent MPG would have fallen in my favour.
I kick myself now, would have never taken a GTE out if I'd have know these issues were going to arise. The charging cable costs £900!!! How crazy is that?!
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I'm assuming you do get a "free" charging cable with the car?
At least the GTD looks like it packs some punch.
Did you get a full refund on the GTE?
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Yeah PCP was cancelled
And yes the charging lead was included but to replace was £900
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Hopefully you're a lot happier with the GTD.
I dread to think how much these hybrid vehicles will potentially cost to run out of warranty.
I can't get over the charging lead cost.
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Pretty much all of the current hybrid versions of various cars have only one purpose in mind - BIK avoidance for company car drivers.
They don't do anything clever, they aren't very useful and they aren't very well thought out yet.
The tax avoidance is something I can appreciate people want, given that my GTD will be 50% more tax by 2020 - that means that by that date you'd be paying more tax for a GTD than I would have paid for a GTI 2 years ago when I leased my current car.
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The charging cable costs £900!!! How crazy is that?!
This could be a VW price however a google search shows many specialists now and given that the cables and connections seem to fit lots of different makes they are cheaper. A standard 3pin mains cable about £310 or a 16a fast charging cable from £110 but you'd need the point wiring in first which seems to cost from £200.
I think though the achille's heal for all plug in hybrids and ev's for many potential buyers is that they can't charge them from home due to living in flats or having on street parking which is prevalent in the areas where you want to use these types of vehicles, inner city!
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While in Oslo in 2012, saw many electric and hybrid cars, even then. Every carpark had at least one row of charging points and most were full. Norway is a special case though, with much undersea gas, as well as hydro-electricity from the mountains, energy is very cheap.
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The charging cable costs £900!!! How crazy is that?!
This could be a VW price however a google search shows many specialists now and given that the cables and connections seem to fit lots of different makes they are cheaper. A standard 3pin mains cable about £310 or a 16a fast charging cable from £110 but you'd need the point wiring in first which seems to cost from £200.
Yes but similar to the Apple iPhone cables, it can detect an inferior product. Albeit I was only warned by the VW salesman about it, plus I had the 13a to 16a exchange which meant I could charge it in my garage from a standard socket
I bought my GTD outright this time, I changed job so it was a good time to raise a complaint to VW and get the car returned