Volkswagen Passat GTE Estate 2019 first drive

The eighth-generation Volkswagen Passat isn’t dead, and isn’t about to be killed off by the mercurial rise of the family SUV either, Volkswagen assures. It’s just been away for a bit, at least in some forms. And now that it’s back, its mid-life facelift coincides with the return of the version that must represent one of Wolfsburg’s better chances of commercial success in a business car market increasingly concerned with emissions reduction.

The Passat GTE plug-in hybrid was taken off sale last summer, when changing European emissions regulations rendered it obsolete. Now it’s returned with a bigger drive battery and 30 per cent more zero-emissions range, as well as some new driving mode functionality. It also benefits from the highlights of Wolfsburg’s wider update for the Passat range, which brings a new touchscreen infotainment system, some new engines and a few styling tweaks besides.

A five per-cent price slash is the sweetener expected to complete the hike in sales profile for the petrol-electric, ultra-low emissions derivative; the GTE accounted for only ten per cent of pre-facelift UK Passat sales at its height but should make up 25 per cent now. That won’t be enough to make it the UK’s biggest-selling Passat derivative: a couple of diesel-engined models will likely still outsell it, at least according to VW’s expectations – but that's mainly because the Passat remains a car very popular with company car drivers who haven't abandoned diesel in quite the same way that private buyers have.

The styling changes aren’t the most daring or noticable, but this hardly comes as a shock. Under the bonnet, meanwhile, the biggest Passat development will come when VW’s new 148bhp 2.0-litre TDI Evo diesel engine arrives later in 2019, bringing active cylinder shutdown to the diesel side of the engine range. Meanwhile, the latest GTE’s mechanical makeup has hardly changed. According to a VW product expert, that’s because there’s little to be gained on real-world fuel economy or emissions by substituting the 1.4-litre turbo four-pot engine of the GTE’s hybrid powertrain for VW’s newer 1.5 TSI Evo – until, that is, there is the opportunity to also add 48-volt technology, a more powerful electric motor, or both at the same time.

For that reason, this car sticks with what we know – although a change in battery cell makeup has boosted drive battery power from 9.9kWh of gross capacity to 13. VW says that the bigger battery has boosted electric range from 31- to 43 miles on like-for-like terms. I suspect you’d do well to get more than 30 from it in real-world use, but there’s enough electric-only performance to easily get you up to 50mph without rousing the piston engine, so driving the car under electric power is certainly a pretty easy and pleasant thing to do.