Too late to the hybrid game? Volkswagen says there's still a market for electrified Tiguan, Golf, and Passat

Volkswagen has committed to an electric-car rollout in the next year, securing supply to get the sought-after ID.4 fully electric SUV on sale before the end of 2023.

But with all this talk of electrification, where does that leave the brand’s hybrid plans? Is VW better off running with its original plan of skipping hybrids altogether?

Speaking to CarsGuide, Volkswagen Australia’s managing director of passenger vehicles, Michal Szaniecki, explained that this was not the case. He said despite limited demand, there is still a market for its hybrid models in Australia, which are slated to arrive over the course of 2023.

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“Golf and Tiguan hybrids are on the way, we’re looking at Passat, too, these will suit both private customers, but also we expect they will be big with fleets," he said.

The Passat eHybrid is one of VW’s big winners in Europe, and has been used by many business fleets as a way to lower carbon emissions. Mr Szaniecki says that while demand is low in Australia right now, we can look to Europe’s more advanced market as to where VW expects Australia to move.

“Demand for electric vehicles is naturally bigger than it is for PHEVs. This is true across most geographies I know. But there is always a certain group who might not be able to own an electric vehicle. Maybe they need a longer range, or maybe they only have the room or the budget for one car and can’t have both a combustion vehicle and an electric car.

“We think this group of private buyers who know what they want is a distinct group. When it comes to educating consumers about plug-in hybrids - there’s an opportunity there, too.

“Not everyone who goes into a showroom and buys a plug-in hybrid is looking for one originally. Maybe they’re looking for an electric vehicle and we have an opportunity there to overcome the learning curve and explain the benefits of plug-in hybrids.”

Plug-in hybrids have had a slow build-up in Australia, with many manufacturers trying their hand at marketing the technology with varying degrees of success. Mitsubishi, for example, is totally committed to its range of PHEVs, while Kia, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz have all notably retired even some of the more successful plug-in models from Australia.

Plug-in hybrids have had a slow build-up in Australia.

Volkswagen’s range of plug-in models are notable for having a focus on not just economy models like the Passat, but also performance models like the Golf GTE and Tiguan R.

So what does VW have up its sleeve to tempt customers into a PHEV?

There are two Golf hybrid grades, the standard eHybrid with a 150kW combined output, or the performance-oriented GTE which has outputs to match the purely combustion GTI (180kW). The Golf GTE can travel 62km on a single charge.

A similar story is true for the Passat, which VW bets heavily on for fleets. The brand told us it is still working out the fine print of which grade, or grades, it will make available in Australia, with the option of an eHybrid, or a GTE grade (which is notably less powerful than the Golf, offering a combined 160kW). The Passat GTE can travel 56km between charges.

The Tiguan is offered in a single eHybrid grade, which also offers the same powertrain as the Golf and Passat, although in a 180kW state of tune. It has the least purely electric driving range of the three, able to travel just 50km between charges.

All cars use a 1.4-litre four-cylinder TSI engine mated to a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and charge on a European-standard Type 2 AC charger, at a maximum rate of 3.6kW.

VW is promising competitive pricing for its plug-in hybrid range, as it has for its fully electric models, due to arrive before the end of 2023. For context, the Tiguan eHybrid starts from the equivalent of AUD$65,000.