Golf GTE incoming - an advice for a new owner
Discussion
Hi there,
So my BMW 320d Touring went back to the lease company last week as it reached the end of the 3 year term, this has coincided with me changing jobs and as such the searching for a new company car commenced.
After having looked around at loads of cars (and struggling to find anything that was new and immediately available due to the new WLTP legislation) I have finally found a brand new Golf GTE Advance.
The new job has a much larger basic salary than my previous job so BIK was a key figure. The BMW was 33% whereas the Golf is going to be just 13%. New employer gave me pretty much a free reign on the car but I was not going to be paying hundreds of pounds in tax just for the privilege. From crunching the numbers the Golf is going to cost me about £120.00 per month with another 320d Touring costing me nearer £400.
So my question is any tips from current GTE owners that you can pass on ?
Should I look into a home charger or given the small electric range will an overnight charge be sufficient ?
Any other little tricks or gadgets I should know about ?
Regards
Tim
So my BMW 320d Touring went back to the lease company last week as it reached the end of the 3 year term, this has coincided with me changing jobs and as such the searching for a new company car commenced.
After having looked around at loads of cars (and struggling to find anything that was new and immediately available due to the new WLTP legislation) I have finally found a brand new Golf GTE Advance.
The new job has a much larger basic salary than my previous job so BIK was a key figure. The BMW was 33% whereas the Golf is going to be just 13%. New employer gave me pretty much a free reign on the car but I was not going to be paying hundreds of pounds in tax just for the privilege. From crunching the numbers the Golf is going to cost me about £120.00 per month with another 320d Touring costing me nearer £400.
So my question is any tips from current GTE owners that you can pass on ?
Should I look into a home charger or given the small electric range will an overnight charge be sufficient ?
Any other little tricks or gadgets I should know about ?
Regards
Tim
Yep, the small battery doesn't take long to charge - about 3h30 on 3-pin, 2h15 on a 16A charger from empty. The car should come with two leads - one that has a regular 3-pin plug on the end (and a chunky box inline), and one that has a Type-2 connector for a socketed home charging unit or the public charging posts.
I used the 3-pin lead for a few months, with the cable going under my garage door (box inside the door) and it worked fine. I got a proper charge point fitted though, because I'm not that confident in the state of my garage wiring (remember it'll be pulling 10A for hours), it was a faff opening and closing the garage door to put the lead away, and I thought it was worth taking advantage of the OLEV grant while it exists. The government pays 75% (max £500) of the cost of it installing it, you pay the rest. That grant is likely to keep getting reduced over time and I'm pretty sure our next car will be a plug-in - so got a nice 32A/7kW (more than the GTE will take) one installed now.
Not much else - it's rarely worth bothering charging it when you're out and about (rapid chargers at the motorway services, etc) as it takes too long and costs too much to get charge in the thing. Just fill up at home and use your super-cheap 20 miles or so as often as possible. It always defaults to electric mode and uses it until the battery is empty - best to put it into hybrid mode once you're doing over 40mph.
I used the 3-pin lead for a few months, with the cable going under my garage door (box inside the door) and it worked fine. I got a proper charge point fitted though, because I'm not that confident in the state of my garage wiring (remember it'll be pulling 10A for hours), it was a faff opening and closing the garage door to put the lead away, and I thought it was worth taking advantage of the OLEV grant while it exists. The government pays 75% (max £500) of the cost of it installing it, you pay the rest. That grant is likely to keep getting reduced over time and I'm pretty sure our next car will be a plug-in - so got a nice 32A/7kW (more than the GTE will take) one installed now.
Not much else - it's rarely worth bothering charging it when you're out and about (rapid chargers at the motorway services, etc) as it takes too long and costs too much to get charge in the thing. Just fill up at home and use your super-cheap 20 miles or so as often as possible. It always defaults to electric mode and uses it until the battery is empty - best to put it into hybrid mode once you're doing over 40mph.
autofocus said:
Hi there,
So my BMW 320d Touring went back to the lease company last week as it reached the end of the 3 year term, this has coincided with me changing jobs and as such the searching for a new company car commenced.
After having looked around at loads of cars (and struggling to find anything that was new and immediately available due to the new WLTP legislation) I have finally found a brand new Golf GTE Advance.
The new job has a much larger basic salary than my previous job so BIK was a key figure. The BMW was 33% whereas the Golf is going to be just 13%. New employer gave me pretty much a free reign on the car but I was not going to be paying hundreds of pounds in tax just for the privilege. From crunching the numbers the Golf is going to cost me about £120.00 per month with another 320d Touring costing me nearer £400.
So my question is any tips from current GTE owners that you can pass on ?
Should I look into a home charger or given the small electric range will an overnight charge be sufficient ?
Any other little tricks or gadgets I should know about ?
Regards
Tim
Tim,So my BMW 320d Touring went back to the lease company last week as it reached the end of the 3 year term, this has coincided with me changing jobs and as such the searching for a new company car commenced.
After having looked around at loads of cars (and struggling to find anything that was new and immediately available due to the new WLTP legislation) I have finally found a brand new Golf GTE Advance.
The new job has a much larger basic salary than my previous job so BIK was a key figure. The BMW was 33% whereas the Golf is going to be just 13%. New employer gave me pretty much a free reign on the car but I was not going to be paying hundreds of pounds in tax just for the privilege. From crunching the numbers the Golf is going to cost me about £120.00 per month with another 320d Touring costing me nearer £400.
So my question is any tips from current GTE owners that you can pass on ?
Should I look into a home charger or given the small electric range will an overnight charge be sufficient ?
Any other little tricks or gadgets I should know about ?
Regards
Tim
If you are using the 3 pin charger, make sure you turn the charge current down from 13A to 10A. I was using mine through an outdoor extension lead (naughty I know) and the main extension lead plug got too hot and melted into the socket. It works fine though at 10A.
I don't have a separate charge point, and have used the configuration above quiet happily for nearly three years.
An overnight charge is sufficient to get me an indicated 25 miles range at the moment - dropping to 20ish in the winter.
I still haven't fathomed out the conundrum that is D or B for best economy.
Home charger can be worthwhile, not only is it quicker to charge but with a tethered charger, there is less faffing about with cables. I also noticed that mine pre-heated/cooled much better/quicker when using a proper charger compared to a 3 pin plug. And there is my first tip....pre heat/cool while still plugged in. It will preserve battery range for actual driving.
If you can charge at work, and you work more than 20 miles away, then do so whenever possible. Your fuel costs will drop considerably. Always worth charging at public points if it's free, although there is an etiquette to learn (i.e. dont hog chargers that fully electric vehicles might need etc)
Last tip, ignore battery hold/battery charge mode. Completely pointless and will make your driving less economical. Think of it as a petrol car with a small battery to boost mpg. Once you get hung up on maximising electric miles you might as well get a fully electric car.
If you can charge at work, and you work more than 20 miles away, then do so whenever possible. Your fuel costs will drop considerably. Always worth charging at public points if it's free, although there is an etiquette to learn (i.e. dont hog chargers that fully electric vehicles might need etc)
Last tip, ignore battery hold/battery charge mode. Completely pointless and will make your driving less economical. Think of it as a petrol car with a small battery to boost mpg. Once you get hung up on maximising electric miles you might as well get a fully electric car.
Thanks all,
Car arrived safely on Friday and I am really pleased with it so far.
Managed a trip to the garden centre (15 miles away) on pure electric power which was interesting, but took the longer route back home so I could sample 'GTE' mode for the first time.
The fit and finish of these cars is really good and the equipment levels on the Advance (which this one is) are superb and so much better than my last car (BMW 320d M Sport).
Really looking forward to putting some miles on it.
Regards
Tim
Car arrived safely on Friday and I am really pleased with it so far.
Managed a trip to the garden centre (15 miles away) on pure electric power which was interesting, but took the longer route back home so I could sample 'GTE' mode for the first time.
The fit and finish of these cars is really good and the equipment levels on the Advance (which this one is) are superb and so much better than my last car (BMW 320d M Sport).
Really looking forward to putting some miles on it.
Regards
Tim
Great car good choice.
We've had our GTE Advanced for 6 month now. Out of all the Hybrids I've driven over the years inc Toyota's BMW's and Mercs the GTE is the best at being a plug-in hybrid.
Range varies, in Winter with heating on, hills, and family in car it was down to 15miles. Yesterday I coaxed 29 miles on battery with HVAC off with a steady 30-40mph cruise.
I love the ability to drive electric without any engine interference it fantastic.
As a Hybrid it has many complicated modes. Which mode is best depends on how you use it. IMO just switch between electric and GTE
We've had our GTE Advanced for 6 month now. Out of all the Hybrids I've driven over the years inc Toyota's BMW's and Mercs the GTE is the best at being a plug-in hybrid.
Range varies, in Winter with heating on, hills, and family in car it was down to 15miles. Yesterday I coaxed 29 miles on battery with HVAC off with a steady 30-40mph cruise.
I love the ability to drive electric without any engine interference it fantastic.
As a Hybrid it has many complicated modes. Which mode is best depends on how you use it. IMO just switch between electric and GTE
I will have run a GTE for 2 years in November and on the whole have been very pleased. I’m averaging 80+ mpg overall, with running costs at about 9p per mile overall (to my embarrassment I have never got round to arranging cheap rate tariff domestic EL though 
so it ought to be sub 8p if I’d pulled my finger out). Some fills where I have done lots of short journeys have been 100+ mpg.
Forget the dash indicated 30 mile range. It will be more like 22/23 in summer, 18/19 in winter when colder. Forget E mode for ‘press on’ driving or any lengthy period at over 60mph, the range will plummet. Switch to E mode when it is best suited, in town / city and whenever you are caught in a 35-45 mph A or B road procession. In my experience if you are down to single figure E range it is best to select hybrid GTE mode for a period as energy recovery will get you back up to 14 miles of E range (the maximum it will charge to). Then cycle the E and hybrid modes to keep topping up the battery. On my 19 mile each way commute I can get a split of 28m EL / 10m ICE like this.
Oh and B mode doesn’t seem to contribute anything than I can see, other than to save the tiresome need to press the brake pedal so soon
. I haven’t been able to find any range benefits over and above letting the car coast in D mode.
so it ought to be sub 8p if I’d pulled my finger out). Some fills where I have done lots of short journeys have been 100+ mpg.Forget the dash indicated 30 mile range. It will be more like 22/23 in summer, 18/19 in winter when colder. Forget E mode for ‘press on’ driving or any lengthy period at over 60mph, the range will plummet. Switch to E mode when it is best suited, in town / city and whenever you are caught in a 35-45 mph A or B road procession. In my experience if you are down to single figure E range it is best to select hybrid GTE mode for a period as energy recovery will get you back up to 14 miles of E range (the maximum it will charge to). Then cycle the E and hybrid modes to keep topping up the battery. On my 19 mile each way commute I can get a split of 28m EL / 10m ICE like this.
Oh and B mode doesn’t seem to contribute anything than I can see, other than to save the tiresome need to press the brake pedal so soon
. I haven’t been able to find any range benefits over and above letting the car coast in D mode.Hi there,
Nope managed to go from order to delivery in about a week.
Broker we used found a stock car which I just jumped on straight away as I knew how scarce stock was. A friend who is a broker found 2 other stock cars as well so it seems there might be some still in the network.
Regards
Tim
Nope managed to go from order to delivery in about a week.
Broker we used found a stock car which I just jumped on straight away as I knew how scarce stock was. A friend who is a broker found 2 other stock cars as well so it seems there might be some still in the network.
Regards
Tim
autofocus said:
Hi there,
Nope managed to go from order to delivery in about a week.
Broker we used found a stock car which I just jumped on straight away as I knew how scarce stock was. A friend who is a broker found 2 other stock cars as well so it seems there might be some still in the network.
Regards
Tim
Is stock scarce? I was told this initially, but when I widened my search outside my city I found quite a lot. I had a good pick of pre-reg and in stock un-reg cars to chose from. I ended up going for a pre-reg in my preferred colour and spec, for well under list.Nope managed to go from order to delivery in about a week.
Broker we used found a stock car which I just jumped on straight away as I knew how scarce stock was. A friend who is a broker found 2 other stock cars as well so it seems there might be some still in the network.
Regards
Tim
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