Why The VW Passat eHybrid Estate is Economical and Perfectly Practical

An estate car is chiefly used to transport family items including luggage, sports kit, shopping and camping gear. Beyond this, they can also double up as quasi removal vehicles thanks to their cavernous boot space and folding rear seats. It's these type of scenarios that make estate cars an obvious choice for families.

Performance - How Does It Drive?

The entry-level Volkswagen Passat engine is a 148bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol with a mild hybrid to increase efficiency and performance. I drove the cheaper of the two plug-in hybrids, the 1.5 TSI eHybrid, which has 201bhp. Importantly, it has a 19.7kWh battery, which gives the Volkswagen Passat an official electric-only range of up to 81 miles.

The Volkswagen Passat has the DSG Auto gearbox, with the PHEV having six speeds and the other versions having seven. The suspension you get as standard means the ride is lumpy in urban settings but smoother when on faster roads. Opting for the top-spec trim version gives you DCC Pro advanced suspension, which you can add to other trim levels, allowing you to choose from 15 firmness levels. Potholes and other unpleasant road surfaces are suppressed brilliantly on the softest setting.

There's a preset Comfort mode, which trades a little control for extra suppleness, as well as Sport mode, which does the opposite. In Sport, body lean is reduced and the steering weights up to give the driver a greater sense of connection to the front wheels.

The VW Passat is at its best as a long-distance cruiser thanks to its well-suppressed wind and road noise. You get laminated side windows from mid-spec Elegance trim up, making things quieter.

Interiors and Boot Space: Inside The VW Passat eHybrid Estate

All versions of the VW Passat offer plenty of seat and steering wheel adjustments, so you should have no trouble finding a comfortable driving position. All trims even have an electric backrest adjustment and a massage function for an extra dose of luxury.

The large windows impress with driving visibility, while front and rear sensors in addition to a rear-view camera aid parking.

The simplistic dashboard means that functions are chiefly controlled using the VW voice control system or the 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment display. The buttons on the steering wheel, meanwhile, are backlit so that you can see them at night. Elsewhere, a digital driver’s display can be configured to show various information in different layouts. The excellent head-up display projects information onto the windscreen in your line of sight.

The Volkswagen Passat estate is long and wide, with a greater distance between its front and rear wheels. It provides lots of interior space with additional storage space between the front seats. Rear occupants have plenty of room to spread out and also enjoy good visibility towards the front.

The Passat's wide rear door openings make access easy. Storage spaces include map and phone pockets on the rear of the front seats, while the fold-down centre armrest features two cupholders and a tray where you can set up your smartphone in an upright position.

The Volkswagen Passat's boot is cavernous - an essential when buying an estate. The mild-hybrid petrol model has 690 litres of luggage space beneath the load cover. It's worth noting that if you choose a Plug-in Passat, luggage space shrinks to 510 litres to accommodate the drive battery beneath the boot floor. 

Running Costs, Prices & Extras

The PHEV Volkswagen Passat can run on electric power for a significant period, which could mean low fuel consumption and electric bills for the owner if they can take advantage of a cheap overnight tariff for charging. The Volkswagen Passat can use public 50kW DC chargers, speeding things up considerably and making life - and long journeys - easier. The entry-level mild hybrid petrol Passat averages more than 50mpg, proving economical. 

Volkswagen has an array of standard equipment, including entry-level Life trim, ambient interior lighting, adaptive cruise control, and three-zone climate control. Mid-level Elegance adds additional ambient lighting colour options, heated front seats and extra massage settings. Top-spec R-Line models feature sporty styling upgrades. Every Passat has lane-keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, and a driver monitoring system for driver fatigue.

When you buy an estate car, you consciously decide to own a vehicle that can carry loads and is simultaneously practical. The Volkswagen Passat provides a gigantic cargo area, especially when the rear seats are folded down.

The performance is both respectable and economical, coming into its own when navigating city streets on electric power. This is a vehicle defined by its versatility; it adapts effortlessly from a mobile basecamp to a passenger carrier hauling children to school, whilst also proving essential for shopping trips and long-distance European tours. It is, quite simply, the ultimate utilitarian vehicle.

Overall Verdict

The new VW Passat is an elegant-looking saloon that cements the Passat as Volkswagen's second-highest-selling car. 

Across one week, I drove the vehicle on various roads at peak times, including country routes, motorways, and small towns. It handled all of these terrains with ease - an unsurprising feat when you consider the car's impressive features including front wheel drive, steering responsiveness, and acceleration. In short, it made taking corners on country roads a blast!

Meanwhile, its extended chassis and DCC Pro adaptive suspension made all the difference and rendered long motorway journeys a pleasure instead of a chore.

When it came to driving around in towns and cities, the car's accurate 360-degree camera and sensors didn't go amiss. These features were particularly helpful when reversing, allowing for complete control.

As for the vehicle's performance, unlike some automatic cars, there wasn't a surge of power when feathering the throttle. This combination made me feel comfortable manoeuvring the vehicle - something which can take longer than a week.

Other than the features listed above, the exterior also gave me extra excuses to keep driving around. I found myself admiring the car countless times. The bonnet is a curved masterpiece while the grill is somewhat mean-looking, adding an extra dimension to the car's aesthetic. The bumper and boot, however, didn't quite match this same aesthetic, appearing chunkier (perhaps because the boot - fitting 690 litres - is particularly generous).

Interior-wise, what can I say other than it’s typically Volkswagen? They rarely miss the mark in this aspect, and the VW Passat eHybrid Estate is certainly no exception. The leather interior suits the car and caters to its target audience and the physical buttons are a big yes from me as you can focus on driving instead of fiddling with touch-responsive buttons. As for the gigantic touch screen system? In my eyes, this feature wasn't very smooth in its operation and didn't feel like an essential.

From £40,000