VW Touareg e-Hybrid: The whirring Wolfsburg

Following the discontinuation of the Phaeton, the Touareg is the flagship in the VW model range. And with well over a million units sold since its debut in 2002, it has firmly established itself. Whether the luxury-class SUV will also make the leap into the electric age is still up in the air. At least it is already available with plug-in hybrid drive. As a part-time electric vehicle with a V6 petrol engine and 100 kW electric motor, the humming Wolfsburg is generally convincing - if only it weren't for the little things.

These include, above all, a battery that is too small and the poor charging performance, which is not up to date despite a revision last year. VW has obviously invested noticeably in upgrading the materials, functionality and equipment. Highlights in the literal sense are the "Innovision Cockpit", which now comes as standard, and the Matrix headlights, which turn night into day with over 38,000 multiplex LEDs. In addition, there are luxury-class features such as the adaptive chassis with active roll stabilization and air suspension or a roof load sensor that detects a mounted roof box or other additional luggage and adjusts the ESP to the correspondingly higher centre of gravity.

The plug-in hybrid drive itself gives the SUV, which weighs a good 2.5 tons, an astonishing lightness. The interaction between the V6 turbo petrol engine and the electric motor happens imperceptibly and together develops 381 hp (280 kW) and 600 Nm of thrust, which is kept in check by a fast and precise shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. However, the prices of the electrified Volkswagen flagship are not close to the people: they start at 80,700 euros. (aum)