Golf GTE Shocker! - 6.3sec 0 - 100 instead of 7.6sec

[GrahamFR]

According to a spokesman for Renault, using the Twizy to drive 130 miles a week would equate to roughly £3 per week - or £156 a year - based on three charges a week and domestic electricity at 14p/kwh unit.

The Nissan Leaf can drive up to 109 miles before it needs to be recharged, but that takes twice as long as Twizy.
According to a spokesman, it costs £2.03 to charge it from flat to full, taking eight hours. Charging it overnight is popular, as night-time energy tariffs tend to be cheaper.
The spokesman did recommended not letting the battery run to empty though – so perhaps charging it every other day, every 60 miles in your scenario, meaning two or three charges a week – at an average cost of £5 - or £260 a year.

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2243534/How-does-cost-charge-electric-car-home.html#ixzz3RcESX29f
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[Jammy1]

So - the car can do up to 31 miles on a full electric charge without resort tot he petrol engine... has anyone worked out what that would cost on the average UK electricity bill? In other words, a way to compare it to mpg?

80p to charge the battery based on my 9.1p per kWh tariff.  So that equates to 2.58p per mile.  That equates to my current 11p a mile based on 1.139 a litre of diesel at 47mpg.  I doubt the GTE would always get the full 31 miles, but it should still be half the cost of diesel.  What I'm not sure about is how effective the coasting and braking charges up the battery once your 'home electricity' miles have been used up.  If it quickly reverts to a petrol only car the mpg will plummet.

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks for that Jammy - but that seems to work out more like 165mpg (based on 4.45 litres to a UK gallon at 1.07 per litre) - unless my maths is really out?

[Jammy1]

Thanks for that Jammy - but that seems to work out more like 165mpg (based on 4.45 litres to a UK gallon at 1.07 per litre) - unless my maths is really out?

That's probably about right as an equivalent mpg.  That would only be for the first 30 miles (or however long before the petrol engine kicks in) though.  After that I imagine it's hugely variable depending on driving conditions and battery charge level.  I think the few reviews that are out there state anything between 55-75mpg combined.  Personally I wouldn't consider one of these as a private buy, the GTD and GTI being 'better' and less compromised all rounders in my opinion, but the numbers do seem to stack up as a company car.  The GTD is circa £170 a month to tax whilst the GTE is £55, that's despite the tax being calculated on the full £33k of the GTE.

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks Jammy...

OK I still think there must be something I am not taking in about this car... you say 'it would not make sense as a private buy' - but it has the same performance (to the point of makes no perceivable difference - or if you look at the OP post here - better performance) as my GTD (DSG) yet its 50 quid cheaper to buy - and as most of my journeys are 25 miles or less its going to be doing the equivalent of 165mpg on 90% of my mileage.

Whats the issue? - it looks like a no brainer to me! 

[Jammy1]

Thanks Jammy...

OK I still think there must be something I am not taking in about this car... you say 'it would not make sense as a private buy' - but it has the same performance (to the point of makes no perceivable difference - or if you look at the OP post here - better performance) as my GTD (DSG) yet its 50 quid cheaper to buy - and as most of my journeys are 25 miles or less its going to be doing the equivalent of 165mpg on 90% of my mileage.

Whats the issue? - it looks like a no brainer to me! 

It's just my opinion, I'm often wrong

I suppose if you can really make use of that 'plug in' 30 miles and you can live with the smaller boot then it could start to make sense. Standard petrols make more sense on low mileage/short journeys anyway so that would tip it in your favour too.  For me I'd want to understand a) what the mpg is like if you don't plug in for say two weeks and b) in a similar vain, how effective the recharge mechanism is via coasting/braking.

They do warrant the battery for 8 years too so there's no worry from that point. I'm not sure how the PCP and lease deals will work out, I can't imagine the residuals being quite as strong as the GTD/GTI due to a few unknowns at the moment.  That might sway the argument back to a GTD.

I'll let you know when/if I can get a demo on our lease scheme and report back.

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks again for that...

Well for me it also means no congestion charge if I choose to drive in to London and as I am self-employed I believe its 100% tax deductible in the first year. Obviously a longer journey will use the electric motor and petrol in combination so I would not be getting 165mpg equivalent every time - but on a lot of journeys I would get that.

VWFS will no doubt give it a decent GFV (although I wish they would get their finger out and get the finance calculator working for the GTE) so the finance figures should be as good if not better than the GTD's....

It seems to make a lot of sense for me....

[corgi]

You don't need to - its cheaper! The GTE is the same price as the equivalent five-door DSG GTD - in fact i think its 50 quid less....taking the subsidy in to account of course. That means about 500 quid cheaper than the equiv 5-door DSG equipped GTI.

And, if it were a company car, the BIK would be much less with emissions of 35g/km... makes it a contender on that basis alone...

[carl1]

Bit inaccurate of that article to not include what a GTI or GTD would do other than manufacturers claimed times.

Exactly the point.  Yet the article makes a point of saying a non PP GTI will do 0-60 in 6.5 and the GTD in 7.5, even though these are VW's official figures.  So how about line all three cars up and see what happens, instead of just making a headline out of just one of them and therefore implying that the GTE is the quickest

Totally agree, i remember seeing one magazines timing the mk5 ed30 standard manual 0 - 60 in about 5.6 secs and i thought what a load of boll locks

Numerous variables with 0-60 but the book figures can usually be beaten in the right conditions. The reality is once on the move it will be slower carrying that extra weight i.e 30-70.

Same with Quattro cars, the 0-60 is quicker only because of the launch but once rolling the additional weight and drag is a penalty.

I wouldn't be surprised if a 0-60 in one o these would use a 3rd of the battery, i'd like to see how it performs a 20 mile blast on some winding roads, not very well  i suspect rendering it useless as any type of GT car.

[GeoBog]

Had one of these bad boys chasing me a few weeks ago on my way to work. It was impressively fast, it was on my @rse all the time. I thought wtf? How can that ugly as hell box be almost as quick as me? When I got to work I googled it and it seems the electric engine is quite fast, around 170 bhp and 0-60 in 7.2 sec.