Volkswagen’s Golf GTE is a plug-in hybrid you might actually consider buying

It used to be that if you wanted a Golf-based hot hatch, you only had to know three letters: GTI. But these days, Volkswagen seems intent on offering a much broader array. There’s the Golf R, the GTD and now this, the GTE. Set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show (now less than two weeks away), the new Golf GTE joins as the fifth type of propulsion to be offered in the Golf line – alongside its gasoline, diesel, CNG and full electric counterparts. The E, as you might have guessed, hints at “electric,” but the Golf GTE isn’t a full EV: it’s a plug-in hybrid. It marries a 1.4-liter turbo four with 148 horsepower to an electric motor with an additional 101 hp that combine to give it a peak output of 201 hp and an impressive 258 pound-feet of torque. It can travel at up to 81 mph on electric power alone, but with both motors engaged, it’ll hit 62 miles per hour from a standstill in 7.6 seconds and top out at 135 mph.