Volkswagen T-Roc Hybrid about to go on sale from £33,725
This new version of the T-Roc is the first-ever full-hybrid car from the brand to be sold in the UK
Although it’s very late to the party, Volkswagen is suddenly quite interested in self-charging or full hybrid cars. So much so that it put a new self-charging hybrid system in the seven-year-old Golf 8, but that car will be beaten to the UK by the new VW T-Roc Hybrid, which is about to go on sale.
Order books for the hybrid T-Roc open on 12 November with a starting price of £33,725. It’ll be the first full hybrid VW to ever go on sale here, ahead of the first deliveries in early 2027.
That starting price gets you into a VW T-Roc Match 1.5 TSI Hybrid 136, representing a premium of £1,230 over the equivalent 1.5 eTSI mild-hybrid. It's then £37,890 for the Style 136PS (134bhp) or £39,980 for the same trim with the more powerful 170 (167bhp) version of the engine. The range-topping R-Line costs either £38,510 or £40,500, depending on your chosen power output.
The hybrid setup blends VW Group’s widely used 1.5-litre TSI engine with a small battery and an electric motor, the system’s operation varying between three automatically activated operating modes.
If possible, it’ll drive on electric power alone at up to 40mph. Sometimes, the electric motor will power the car while the engine is decoupled from the wheels and acting as a generator for the battery. From 40mph and up, the petrol engine acts as the primary method of propulsion, while also keeping the battery topped up if necessary, with the electric motor providing an extra boost during acceleration.
One key difference between VW’s self-charging system and the systems favoured by Japanese rivals is the transmission. Manufacturers like Honda and Toyota favour continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) in their full hybrids, which have an ‘elastic’ feel to their response that can take some getting used to. In the T-Roc and other VW hybrids, though, it’s the familiar seven-speed dual-clutch automatic doing the shifting.
Speaking of which, the lower-powered T-Roc hybrid version takes 9.7 seconds to get from 0-62mph, with the pokier engine doing the deed in 8.5 seconds. Both are limited to 112mph.
The all-important official fuel efficiency numbers are the same for both versions of the hybrid engine at 55.4mpg, a useful improvement over the base 1.5-litre eTSI unit in the T-Roc which manages 49.6mpg with the DSG gearbox.
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