VW Passat Estate 1.4 TSi GTE (Electric/hybrid) DSG

Fair comment Boff.

Turbo petrol engines normally produce a torque figure midway between the equivalent turbo diesel and a standard petrol. They are not as much a compromise as is often thought!

I doubt sales volumes are yet sufficient to have any caravanners amongst the owners/drivers, let alone are also CC and CT members! the fact that few hybrids are type approved for towing and those which are (save for Range Rovers and Porsche Cayennes) have much reduced towing limits suggests to me they are not yet suitable for towing anything other than a small van. I personally would love to go hybrid however even the owner of a nearby very large Mitsubishi dealers advised against the Outlander PHEV in favour of the diesel version for towing. I understand the attraction of the tax benefits, especially for the business buying the vehicle which get 100% tax relief on purchase cost..... without that I doubt EV's and Hybrids would get any sales in the UK. 

With the pressures on vehicle development going this way and some early examples now being available it is high time the clubs sought to test them in a caravanning role; we all need or might soon need the insight.

Having a couple of years back had to suffer a hired Prius for a holiday in the not totally flat Dorset countryside, and that was only used solo, then the technology needs massive improvement. The achieved fuel consumption in that terrain was awful. I accept it was a very early attempt at building a hybrid.

Contributor, Lutz for a while used a hybrid , Lexus???, though I note has now changed.

Thanks for your responses.  I am fortunate enough to be able to have a choice for my company car although this choice is somewhat restricted because of certain criteria including CO2 caps. This means if I want to use this car to tow, my choice is further restricted to a Volvo V60 D4 diesel or the Passat GTE petrol/hybrid.  Because of tax liabilities and wanting to support minimising environmental impacts, if it would do the job I prefer the Passat.  Alternatively I go with what is proven & go for the Volvo?  Decisions, decisions.  

Understand, i agree putting the hybrid issue aside, the Passat is generally the far nicer and better car. However i would be wary of going for what is effectively a small and potentially underpowered petrol engine (forget the battery, that will do nothing for towing) in a large heavy car. Is the Volvo type approved for towing? Some eco specials are not. 

It is a normal diesel engine in the Volvo I am looking at (not the hybrid) so it is fine for towing, just a smaller car.  It is the hybrid in the Passat.

I realise however some low CO2 engined cars such as BMW's 'ES' designations and certain Ford's are NOT type approved for towing! have you actually checked?

According to the  VW website the tow bar is a £905 option and max tow weight is 1600Kg as mthomo pointed out in his original post.  What he asked for experience and what he has got is opinions.

I am also referring to the OP's other option - the Volvo. However A review of the Passat along with hybrids from Volvo, BMW and Audi has just appeared on the Autocar website. The VW compares favourably but towing ability is not covered. Personally the power of the engine at 113bhp would worry me in a car weighing over 1.7tonnes, let alone adding a caravan into the equation. The power/weight ratio is poor. Yes he did ask for experience, clearly there isn't any so I along with others are offering suggestions and advice to help the OP avoid a potentially expensive mistake. One day I will probably have a hybrid but not until experience demonstrates they are suited to towing over long distances. 

Interesting thoughts. We to are looking at the Passat GTE and the Mitsubishi PHEV. I have posted a request for towing views on the PHEV. Drives very well solo. Cannot find one with a tow bar to try.

I thought the GTE had a quoted combined bhp of 218 ?

I have test driven the car and it was very impressive. I currently drive a Passat Estate138bhp blue motion which pulls our Bailey Verona very well.