The plug-in hybrid Passat GTE Variant serves with the police force of Lower Saxony
Ready for silent deployment
The new Passat police cars are racking up the kilometres as they put state-of-the-art Volkswagen plug-in hybrid technology to the test in round-the-clock crime-fighting deployment
An increasing number of Passat police vehicles are moving around silently on the streets of Lower Saxony. The new patrol cars' secret is concealed under their bodywork, which sports a striking blue and yellow livery. On the outside, it's only the characteristic GTE lettering and light signatures that give those in the know a hint of the vehicles' distinctive technical attributes: the Volkswagen Passat GTE Variant once again has the honour of blazing a trail for all the others. With the combined power of its drives, it is already demonstrating the performance expected of tomorrow's police vehicles in terms of suitability for daily use.
21 of these spacious estate cars were just recently delivered, all bearing the same police livery, as part of the pilot project ‘lautlos&einsatzbereit' (silent and ready for deployment). The pioneering GTE drive technology can now demonstrate just how suitable for daily use the latest hybrid solutions are, whatever the weather – and even in the extreme conditions of demanding round-the-clock police use.
Blue is the colour: the blue GTE lettering not only goes excellently with the police vehicles' blue light – it also identifies the Passat as a pioneering plug-in hybrid
The cars can travel up to 50 kilometres on electric drive alone
Just like in the civilian Passat GTE versions, this vehicle is commandingly propelled by a modern 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine with 115 kW (156 PS) together with an electric motor boasting 85 kW (115 PS) maximum power output. The clever on-board electronics' energy management system independently selects the appropriate energy source depending on the operating status. The Passat can cover a distance of up to 50 kilometres when driving entirely electrically on a fully charged 9.9 kWh lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which takes just 2 hours and 45 minutes to charge. In combination with the petrol engine, it can cover a maximum distance of 1,030 kilometres (NEDC cycle). With this kind of equipment, no police deployment will be too long for the Passat Variant GTE.
This fleet of dynamic police estate cars in use throughout Lower Saxony assumes a pioneering position within Germany in terms of public fleet management. At all times, the Volkswagen Passat GTE Variant rises to the special demands of police officers on duty as one of the first patrol cars with highly efficient plug-in hybrid drive to be put to use in standard round-the-clock shift work. To this end, its interior was converted at the customer workshop in Emden to meet the needs of the police force. Something else which is new to day-to-day police work is the vehicle's ability to strike a balance between dynamics and sustainability. With a system performance of 160 kW (218 PS) and maximum torque of 400 newton metres, this spacious police vehicle is as nippy as some actual sports cars. It can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 7.4 seconds and can hit a top speed of 225 km/h. At the same time, the Passat GTE Variant sustainably protects both people and nature with its almost silent and emission-free operation in e-mode.
The characteristic light signature is another unmistakable feature of the Volkswagen Passat GTE models
A different way to fill up the car: the batteries in the plug-in hybrid are charged at a police force wallbox. Superintendent Oliver Suckow demonstrates the new refuelling method
At the time of the police inspection in Gifhorn, the new vehicles are already in permanent use. While using the wallbox to recharge the batteries between deployments was initially strange for the police officers, the feedback received already after the vehicles' first few months of use has been positive. Detective inspector Stephan Herter highlights the vehicle's handling, which lends itself well to police use: ‘The GTE has a great deal of power output and transfers this to the road well. And in spite of the nippy impression it gives, we can also reliably drive on dirt tracks and roads which are barely developed.' His colleague, detective chief inspector Stefan Heinemann, is particularly impressed by the vehicle's noise behaviour when in e-mode: ‘When sent out to something like a burglary, we can arrive almost silently. And this surprise factor gives us an enormous tactical advantage.'
Superintendent and project manager Oliver Suckow explains the significance of the fleet pilot project funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety: ‘We need to gather as much experience as possible in terms of people's mobility and charging needs. We are testing this vehicle concept diversely and not exclusively for us, but for all of Germany's federal states until August 2019. The aim is to produce a guideline to the economical and ecological management of the vehicle fleets of authorities and organisations with security remits.'
A project with high daily use potential: the police officers are gathering valuable experience in their round-the-clock crime-fighting activities
The pilot project ‘lautlos&einsatzbereit' (silent and ready for deployment) is supported by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety
There is yet more high tech in the Passat police vehicles: securely installed data loggers from the Automotive Research Centre Niedersachsen (NFF) at TU Braunschweig university of technology record a variety of vehicle parameters during vehicle deployment, and these are continuously transmitted to the researchers. Based on the anticipated high mileage of up to 80,000 kilometres per vehicle per year and deployment conditions which can vary greatly, the raw data collected in this way enables the researchers to draw some highly valuable conclusions: ‘The high mileage, the large number of vehicles and the large number of different users give us an extensive and highly diversified data pool. This is very valuable to us from a research perspective because it gives us all sorts of insights into vehicle and user behaviour. We can, for example, precisely identify the demands made of police vehicles and derive future requirements from this,' explains Marcel Sander, an engineer at TU Braunschweig's Institute of Automotive Engineering (IAE) who is involved in the project.
Volkswagen is equally very happy with how the project has started. Jost Krüger, head of sales of official and special-purpose vehicles, is already impressed by the success seen in practice: ‘We are delighted that the Lower Saxony police force is serving as a trailblazer in the procurement of patrol cars with electric and hybrid drive and is putting the Volkswagen Passat GTE to use. Thanks to the impressive drive technology and the practical space inside the Volkswagen Passat GTE Variant, the police can put it wholly to use as a patrol car in regular deployment.'
The power reserve and handling of the Volkswagen Passat GTE Variant meet the high demands made by the police
