Volkswagen Passat Estate review - MPG, running costs & CO2 emissions

We’ve tried the Passat Estate with both its key powertrains; the 1.5-litre eTSI mild hybrid we expect to be very popular with British buyers, and also the latest-generation eHybrid PHEV that sees the plug-in Passat get a serious upgrade.

It might be the entry-level option, but the eTSI is packed with some impressive tech, from cylinders that can switch off to save fuel when not much power is required, to mild hybrid hardware. The latter stores some energy in a small battery while slowing down, then uses it to help power the car under acceleration. It can never drive the car at speed on electric power alone like the PHEV, but it all adds up to improved efficiency. 

The results seem to be pretty good, because while the old petrol Passat Estate could hit 44mpg, the latest model has a fuel-efficiency figure of 51.8mpg in entry-level Life trim. 

In the PHEV version, the battery is much bigger than in the outgoing plug-in Passat, in fact at 20kWh it’s more than double the capacity. This has seen its EV-only range shoot up to an official figure of 62 miles, compared with 25 miles in the old Passat GTE. It also handily eclipses the 28-mile EV range of the BMW 330e Touring, but the Mercedes C 300 e Estate can go even further at 65 miles. While precise figures haven’t been released yet, this should see its fuel economy and CO2 emissions trump the old car’s.

Another notable improvement is the addition of 50kW rapid charging, making it more useful to charge the car at public chargers than a plug-in hybrid limited to slower 3kW or 7kW charging speeds. A 10 to 80% top-up takes around 25 minutes, so it’s pretty quick to nearly double the car’s EV range.
 

What will the Volkswagen Passat Estate cost to insure?

We don’t have insurance figures for the latest Passat Estate yet, but its predecessor was in groups spanning 16 to 29, and we don’t expect the new model to be much higher. This is likely to make it more affordable to cover than the electric ID.7 Tourer.