Volkswagen is in the midst of rolling out its entire range of updated Golfs and can continue to lay claim to being the only car maker that offers petrol, diesel, electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the same base car. Here we focus on the latter two, called the e-Golf and GTE respectively. The e-Golf, as before, qualifies for the full £4,500 electric car grant, which brings its price down to a more palatable £27,000 or so (exact pricing has yet to be confirmed). Not only that, but the e-Golf is arguably the most updated of all the new Golfs thanks to a much longer range between charges and more power - plus of course all the other styling and technology upgrades. Need to show your mates that you can differentiate the new Golf from the old one? Take a good long hard look at the lights. All models get full LED rear lamps, while the e-Golf and GTE (and the GTI and R models) gain distinctive all-LED headlights and natty 'animated' rear indicators, too.
The latter adds a few niceties, such as more Car-Net functions and even a selectable 'e-sound' external noise generator to warn pedestrians of your presence when running on battery power alone. How does it drive? Not radically different to before pretty much sums it up. To refresh your memory, the GTE features a turbocharged 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine up front, bolted to a six-speed DSG automatic transmission. Within that is a compact electric motor, which is powered by a large lithium-ion battery pack mounted ahead of the rear wheels. Maximum system power is a useful 204-horsepower, while there's up to 258lb ft of torque on tap if both the engine and electric motor work together. On the road, it doesn't feel quite as fast as those figures suggest it will do, mainly because it's heavy, weighing in at exactly 200kg heavier than the equivalent DSG-equipped Golf GTI. That blunts performance a tad, though in comparison to any regular Golf in the line-up it's pleasantly quick. Thing is, to get the full effect, you need to really plant the throttle, and the engine sounds strained when you do that. Likewise, the chassis is not a patch on that of the GTI.
That's hardly surprising given the higher ride height and increased mass, and if there was any other badge on the boot other than GTE, we wouldn't even consider comparing it to the performance model. In short, that badge writes cheques that the GTE can't really cash with any conviction. Indeed, the car feels much more at home when ambling about, running on electricity whenever its battery level allows (up to 30-odd miles apparently) and dealing with urban driving in an efficient manner. Obviously, that's the natural habitat for the e-Golf too, and it's exceptionally refined, more so than the GTE when it's running on electricity, actually. As there are no sporting pretensions, Volkswagen has softened off the springs and dampers, fitted squishy tyres with a nice tall cushioning sidewall and isolated the cabin from all the noises. It's a genuinely serene car to waft along in. But thanks to a new, higher energy density battery and more powerful electric motor, the e-Golf is more suited to life away from the city limits than ever before.
