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Hybrid,
Sedan,
Wagon,
Europe,
Paris Motor Show,
Volkswagen,
Electric
We all know that the letters GT stand for Gran Turismo, but tacking on another letter can evoke a different meaning altogether. GTO for
Ferraris (or
Pontiacs),
GT-R for
Nissan supercars, GTA for high-performance
Alfa Romeos (or car-theft video games, or metropolitan Toronto)... The list goes on and on, but few are as familiar with the idea as
Volkswagen, which uses the letters
GTI for hot hatches, GTD for their diesel counterparts, and most recently, GTE for plug-in hybrids.
VW introduced the nomenclature with the
Golf GTE earlier this year, and is now following up with the Passat GTE you see here. It packs a hybrid powertrain consisting of a 1.4-liter turbo four producing 154 horsepower and an electric motor good for another 114 hp, channeled to the front wheels through a six-speed DSG for a combined output of 215 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque.
In electric-only mode, it'll reach 80 mph and take you as far as 31 miles.
That's more juice than the Golf GTE, but in the larger
Passat delivers similar performance: 0-62 in under eight seconds and a top speed in excess of 136 miles per hour. In electric-only mode, it'll reach 80 mph and take you as far as 31 miles. But with both motors running, and both the 13-gallon fuel tank and the lithium-ion battery topped off, it'll travel up to 1,000 kilometers. That's the equivalent of 622 miles - more than the Golf GTE and more than enough to send the plug-in Passat from London to its debut in
Paris and back again (or all the way from Detroit to New York) all without stopping at a single charging or gas station along the way.
Set to launch in the second half of next year, the Passat GTE will be available in both sedan and wagon forms. But since this is based on the European model, we're not holding our breath for its transatlantic voyage to North American showrooms. Hypermilers will just have to hope that VW will offer a model with a similar system Stateside in the near future.
Continue reading Volkswagen charges up new Passat GTE for the trip to Paris
Volkswagen charges up new Passat GTE for the trip to Paris originally appeared on
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29-09-2014, 06:40 PM
