Volkswagen Sport Coupe GTE plug-in hybrid concept

GTE, the plug-in hybrid from Volkswagen

Not only is the car's design innovative, its technology is as well. The GTE designation promises revolutionary drive system technology. Ever since the Golf GTE made its debut, these three letters have been used at Volkswagen to designate a car with a plug-in hybrid drive. 

Volkswagen Sport Coupe GTE Concept

The Passat GTE follows this year. These cars can be driven approximately 50 kilometres in an all-electric mode; and yet they can cover very long distances with confidence. This all happens with maximum dynamics; the vehicles are silent gliders, powerful cruisers. GTE versions are conceivable in all vehicle classes, such as in the SUV concept vehicle that was shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

 In the Sport Coupé GTE Concept being revealed in Geneva, Volkswagen is adding a new facet to its GTE philosophy - a special avant-garde facet. The 279 kW / 380 PS GTE fastback delivers the long-distance properties of a Gran Turismo while simultaneously enabling zero-emission driving - thanks to its two electric motors and externally chargeable battery. The concept car, with a top speed of 250 km/h, has an average combined fuel consumption of 2.0 l/100 km.

Volkswagen Sport Coupe GTE Concept

Front end - radiator grille and headlights merge

In the Sport Coupé GTE Concept, the radiator grille, headlights and VW badge merge into a completely new interpretation of the Volkswagen front end more than ever before. The designers specifically emphasised three-dimensionality in its design and thereby created a body structure that projects an incomparably independent and extremely dynamic image. 

Volkswagen Sport Coupe GTE Concept

Towards its outer edges, the radiator grille unit borders the LED dual headlights that are deeply embedded and integrated into the front end. Each of them is framed by a radiator grille cross piece made of aluminium, whose ends take an upward turn - like the wing tips (winglets) of a modern jet aeroplane. The form of these winglets is repeated at various points of the exterior and interior, running as a common thread throughout the vehicle's design.