[Rene]

Hey,

in lieu of writing down my thoughts and experience with the ID3 recently, i decided that i might as well do it with our test drive today, as well as describing the entire experience from first call to getting the keys.

When we test drove the ID3, i inquired with our local VW dealer-group for a test drive of the GTE as well – i’ve got told that for the entirety of the group (five big dealerships local), there’s a single GTE and that was in the workshop. So i called around, and in a dealership around 50 miles away, i’ve found one. This one.

When we contacted the dealership, the guy told me that they technically don’t have a GTE demonstrator, but they’d be willing to let me drive one of the “approved used” cars. After letting them know that i very much don’t care if it’s a demonstrator or a “random” used car, as long as i get to sit in it etc, we agreed on a date and time, and the waiting began. Two days later i’ve got an email with a personalised video on the car, around 5 minutes long, explaining features etc, which i thought was a great touch.

Few more days later, we set off to the dealership, talked to the guy (incredibly friendly, even after telling him that we’re Motability customers, mentioning that while they don’t make as much money on the car, we’d be stupid not to go with the scheme and he can’t blame a customer for doing so).

Got the keys and a brief explanation, set the sat nav for a lovely tour through the brecon beacons (stunning), and set off. And then we didn’t. Turns out, while the guy was incredibly friendly and jovial, he forgot to charge the propulsion battery in the GTE. So, then we took off again, in an 150hp, two ton Golf. We decided that with our route (35ish miles), there’s enough space etc to recuperate enough electricity to have some fun –  which was a blessing in disguise actually, because that meant we had to get familiar with the controls for the PHEV system, without manual etc – super simple. We pulled over and set everything up so the car would charge the battery up to 30% before using any, and then pootled off again.

I’m comparing the car here to the ID3 we drove last week, and our current car, a SEAT Ateca Excellence Lux. First impressions: seats are amazing. Worlds better than in the ID3 and SEAT. Visibility also better than in the ID3, and despite sitting considerably lower than in the Ateca (and ID3), i didn’t actually get the impression that i lost visibility, which was kinda weird.

After a little bit of getting used to the brakes, which i thought had a noticeable switch between mechanical and “recuperation” brake (you recuperate to around 5 mph, and then suddenly you need to give more pedal because it starts coasting it felt like), and a little dawdling around through the mountains, there finally was electricity. So, of course we pulled over, took a few pictures, and then decided to see where the GT in the E is. And it pulls like a freight train. Not as “immediate” as the ID3 (which feels like the car is wired to your toe, with instant reactions), but christ that caught us by surprise. Foot down and it starts pulling electrically while sorting the gears, and once the gears are sorted and the engine/second stage booster kicks in.. It goes.

We did get lucky with the weather, so we were able to “test” the agility a little bit around roundabouts, and it just sits confidently on the road, no fuzz. It’s probably not very exciting, but it’s certainly quite rapid. More so than the Ateca and ID3 for certain. We couldn’t find the limit “legally”, so after realising that we don’t need to brake for roundabouts anymore, we gave up.

Downsides. It’s noisier inside, there’s more tyre roar than in the ID3. The touch button things on the steering wheel are awful (i had to faff about with them to deactivate lane assist – same issue in the ID3), nothing good to say about those. When the battery is empty, it does feel a bit asthmatic, albeit we still managed around 39-40mpg until the battery was charged sufficiently to fool around a little. That’s not too bad, imho.

We didn’t take pictures of consumption etc this time, since it really wouldn’t have been fair considering we started on an empty battery – which isn’t what the “general usage” would be. It usually would be plugged in overnight with a charged battery.

Which is why, when our guy calls us in a few days again, we’ll ask if we can do another test drive – this time with a charged battery, and potentially all the way home and back. That would be around 100 miles, which is obviously considerably more than the electric-only range. Should give us an idea as to how well it works for longer distances.

I’ll amend my “thoughts” here once that’s happened.

The good part: the sat nav was awesome, didn’t feel the need at all to use android auto (although it was connected, the salesman did supply us with a brand new usb cable to do so). Reacts quick to inputs, route guidance is very visible/clear, was just great. I think that’s the same system in the ID3 (MIB3) whereas we have MIB2 in the Ateca, which is awful in comparison. Laggy, guidance nowhere near as clear etc.

The camera.. “controlled” traffic sign recognition worked absolutely spot on, saw signs that i could barely see behind shrubberies – was very surprised. Boot size is meh, unsurprising though, battery pack has to go somewhere.

The car had around 5000 miles on the clock (slightly less than our Ateca), but there was no creaks, no rattles, nothing apart from the tyre roar. The suspension was firm, but not uncomfortable – not worse than in our Ateca, while feeling all around slightly more planted/refined.

That’s all i have to say for now, as mentioned, i’ll amend if we get another test drive.

Would we take one? Yes. The issue is, we haven’t really decided if we’d take one over the ID3. I do think it’s the nicer car, by quite a bit  (which is unsurprising, it’s the eighth generation of a car, where the ID3 is the first generation of that model – of course it’s nowhere near as “polished”) – but it’s also quite a bit more expensive. We definitely have to sleep over that.

Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.

Topic

[Tharg]

Thanks for excellent, thorough review, Rene. Tested a similar GTE back-to-back with the T-Roc. Found the PHEV much the same as you. Bit complicated, fussy. Felt a little underpowered and, tbh, wonder whether the battery was uncharged in my one as well. Most of all, found it too lumpy over poor roads so, given that improved ride is main reason for changing, went for the smoother T-Roc.

[struth]

sounds decent. a forum aquainance of mine has the superb phev(recent aquisition) and likes it; he gets good mileage

Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoist

[Rene]

Tharg wrote:

Thanks for excellent, thorough review, Rene. Tested a similar GTE back-to-back with the T-Roc. Found the PHEV much the same as you. Bit complicated, fussy. Felt a little underpowered and, tbh, wonder whether the battery was uncharged in my one as well. Most of all, found it too lumpy over poor roads so, given that improved ride is main reason for changing, went for the smoother T-Roc.

Cheers, yeah, it’s a bit complicated and requires “more supervision” compared to our Ateca or in fact the ID3, which both are “set and forget”, and just drive. With the GTE you do have to think a little more in regards to where you want to recuperate etc to get the most out of the (comparatively) dinky battery. It’s definitely not as convenient/slick as a “single propulsion” car.

In regards to being underpowered, once we had some charge and the car in GTE mode/”S”, it genuinely went like the clappers. Definitely more shove than the ID3 (and of course our 150hp Ateca). I certainly do believe the acceleration figure (around 6.5 sec from memory, or thereabouts). Though that does come with quite a bit of torque steer, which i thought was surprising considering that it was supposed to have an electric diff to sort that out. Albeit, the car we drove was used, might’ve been not working correctly (also popped up a warning for oil change constantly). Without charge though, well.. It’s 150hp, with a generator running, at weighing two tons. So yeah, it’s a bit on the lazy side. And by that, i mean slow.

In regards to suspension, yeah. It’s quite firm (it’s a “sports car”/hot hatch after all, and PHEV on top), but at least where we drove it, it wasn’t to an uncomfortable level. That said: the roads were pretty good, unlike the roads where we live – hence us asking for a drive home because i know we might change our minds rather quickly on that. The jury is still out on that one – on mostly smooth roads, we did find it very comfortable, the seats did their part in that too. The Ateca isn’t as comfortable (on the same roads, actually), but the ID3 is softer from what my bum tells me.

If comfort is the key though, i’d agree – the GTE is pretty certainly not the winner in that category.

Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.

[Author]

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