android, volkswagen multivan review

Overview

What is it?

It’s the car formerly known as the Caravelle: VW’s van-mit-windows. But the Multivan, despite its name and place in the Volkswagen range, ain’t no humble van. Oh no. It’s gone all upmarket and thinks it’s a car now.

Instead of sharing a body with the VW Transporter panel van, the new Multivan actually rides on the same MQB platform that underpins the likes of the VW Golf, Tiguan and, indeed, VW’s latest Caddy van.

That means it should not only offer more car-like road manners, but VW can offer a wider suite of engines and technologies. Which is why, for the first time, VW’s minibus can be specced as a plug-in hybrid.

In Europe, the Caravelle remains on sale, but in the UK, it’s been completely replaced by the Multivan. Relax vanists – the Transporter and all VW’s commercial vans continue as is. Run an airport shuttle company? This is your new people hauler.

But it still looks like, well, a van.

Albeit one with a bit more ‘design’, no? Like the latest Golf, the front features slender headlights and a lightbar motif either side of the VW badge. The grilles are body-colour and relatively slimline – it’s certainly riffing off the upcoming VW ID Buzz, which will move the world of Volkswagen vans into the fully electric age. And looks a lot cuter.

You can have cheery two-tone paintwork with a waistline colour split if you want to channel your inner ice-cream salesperson, and the selection of alloys are cooler than is offered on a Golf these days.

It’s a well-proportioned thing, but thanks to a request from Caravelle owners that the car should be able to access low-roofed parking garages, the overall height of the Multivan is 43mm lower than the old Caravelle. It’s also wider to the tune of 37mm, and the wheelbase is a whopping 124mm longer than before.

Length-wise, you’ve two choices. The standard L1 and the longer L2, which has the same wheelbase but tacks on 200mm to the rear overhang, to eke out more rear seat room and a bigger boot. Both versions have sliding doors on both sides and a top-hinged tailgate to the rear.

Give me a quick engine lowdown.

Easy: there’s no turbodiesel until summer 2022, which tells you how far TDI is up Volkswagen’s priority list. Choose from a 1.5-litre turbo petrol with 134bhp or a 2.0-litre petrol good for a heady 204bhp. The headline act is the plug-in hybrid, which teams a 1.4-litre petrol engine and an e-motor with 13kWh of battery to call upon. This results in 215bhp when they’re both awake, and up to 31 miles of electric range when the rowdier partner heads to the land of nod.

You can’t have a manual anymore – all versions get DSG twin-clutch automatics, though it’s six gears in the e-hybrid and seven everywhere else. And thanks to the auto-only policy, the gear selector is now a dash-mounted switch, not a chunky lever. This frees up stowage space, and makes the interior look cleaner.

What's the verdict?

“A comfortable, well-built, desirable and hugely practical device for carrying seven people with just a few annoying foibles”

The Multivan is really a new catch-all replacement for the old Sharan and current Touran MPVs as well as a true minibus. And there’s no doubt that moving it onto a proper car platform has greatly improved comfort and available technologies. The hybrid system works passably well for most driving situations, ride, refinement and road manners better the van, and the cabin is slightly more upmarket. It’s pretty much as versatile as the Caravelle, but despite the outward growth, is slightly more pinched inside. VW is gradually conquering its current infotainment woes, but if you have CarPlay or Android Auto, use it.

And then there’s the matter of pricing. The T7 Multivan starts at £43,258 (the headline figure is £399 a month), but if you want a hybrid with Style-grade trinkets, you’re at £60,000 before you know it. With the Multivan, VW is confidently forging a path back to the MPV, it’s the ID Buzz, not this, that will make vans cool and buyers flock.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

VW expects the plug-in eHybrid to be a big customer draw for the new Multivan, though its insiders admit that a car like this will be asked to perform a wide repertoire of duties and for the likes of airport taxi firms bombing up and down motorways to deliver expectant passengers, e-range is less important than for an urban-dwelling chauffeur service or school-run family. So the balance between hybrid and pure combustion sales isn’t quite known yet. Handily, we’ve tested both.

The 204bhp petrol cruises incredibly smoothly for a four-cylinder, but prod it with a stick and you get a reassuring response and a mildly rorty engine note, which is… unexpected. However, even lightly loaded with only two aboard it returned low 30s to the gallon. This can be massaged with plenty of lift-and-coast anticipation, as the DSG gearbox uncouples from the drivetrain to allow the Multivan to sail down gradients with minimal resistance.

Tell me about the eHybrid.

Should fuel economy be a top priority, the eHybrid looks like a no-brainer. Official WLTP fuel consumption and CO2 output of 156.6mpg and 41g/km looks stunning, but in practice we averaged more like 48mpg. Call it 38-40mpg on motorway runs, topped up by zero emission e-cruising around urban areas. Claimed range from the 13kWh battery (about 10 kWh of that is usable) is 31 miles. In practice you’ll probably get 18-20. E-power can take you all the way to 70mph.

You’ll notice the eHybrid’s nadgety brake pedal feedback as it juggles re-gen and disc-braking, but otherwise the handover between battery and petrol power is mostly smooth and unintrusive, though if you really clog it, that diminutive 1.4-litre engine gets thrashy. On e-power alone performance is adequate up to modest motorway speeds and on A-roads.

In due course there will be a 150bhp 2.0 TDI (43.4mpg, 171g/km). In the UK, very few will buy it. Those that do will discover it’s the most efficient long haul Multivan, while panicking about the residuals.

How does it handle?

Mooching on e-power suits the Multivan’s gait best. This is a deeply unsporting car. Why on Earth VW has given it the option of paddleshifters and a sport mode is anyone’s guess. This car brings out the driver you’d like to think you are: courteous, considerate, easy-going. Every control is low effort, the steering especially, and the ride – on optional DCC adaptive suspension – is absorbent. Wheels up to 19-inches are available, and the smallest are only an inch down from that.

It’s easy to place too, not simply because the body is so slab-sided, but because the Multivan’s bonnet is more visible from the pilot’s chair than a Caravelle’s and the split A-pillars are helpful at oblique junctions and roundabouts. Tech helps where humans are fallible – all the usual reverse parking/blind-spot monitoring/forward brake-assisting/lane-keep guidance guardian angels from the existing range of MQB-based cars is now plumbed into the Multivan.

Wind noise isn’t very prevalent, but if you’re used to the stiffer structure of an estate or SUV, the occasional shudders and tremors through the open boxy structure if you catch a particularly nasty pothole mid-corner, will make you jump. You sit lower and more stretched out than in the Caravelle, and the centre of gravity seems lower and the overall balance better. The van was ponderous and took a bit of managing. This will whisk through roundabouts without seeming to tax its tyres.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

Up front, Volkswagen is very proud of how digital and connected the new Multivan is. Hmmm. It’s at pains to point out the Multivan is replete with screens, featuring the 10.25-inch digital cockpit instruments and the 10-inch touchscreen from the latest Golf, ID.3 and ID.4.

That’s not the selling point Volkswagen thinks it is, given this system is still unintuitive and frustratingly laggy, particularly when first booted up. Unfortunately that’s exactly when an infotainment system needs to be at its best – that’s when you’re setting the nav, a playlist, and in the case of a current VW, adjusting the heater.

The volume and temperature ‘gutter’ remains unlit, and impossible to use after sunset. The nav screen defaults to grid co-ordinates rather than a map. It surely should have been patched with a software update by now, if not replaced by a competent screen.

Tell me about the practical touches.

Elsewhere, the dashboard is less minimalist, and massively better for it. There’s a grippy wireless charging pad jutting from a cubbyhole that keeps your phone out of sight, and out of temptation. Pop-out cupholders are sited within easy reach. There’s double-decker stowage pockets in both front doors and two glovebox compartments. Slide-out drawers can conceal valuables under the seats.

It’s notably better finished than traditional vans with windows, and touches like metal door handles and the supple leather steering wheel (thankfully free of the Golf GTI’s horrid haptic buttons) ramp up the perceived quality.

Is there enough storage?

You’d think so, but watch out because in some versions the dash-top cubby is replaced by a massive hi-fi speaker. We’d sooner have more space for snacks. Each row gets a couple of USB sockets, but as they’re USB-C you’ll need an adaptor or new cable for charging most current devices.

Now, the really practical stuff. By making the gear selector a simple switch on the dash, there’s no pesky gear lever cluttering up the front of the cabin, so in combination with the flat floor it’s easy to move about inside. There’s a centre-console with cupholders and fold out tables which can be slid to and fro or removed altogether. These are useful since the fold-out picnic tables on the back of the seats are flimsier than an election promise, and look like they’ll last about as long.

What can I do with the interior?

The seats can all recline and fold about, or be removed entirely and orientated rearwards so your children can argue face-to-face. They’re 25 per cent lighter than before, but still hardly wieldy. You’ll arrange the feng shui once, and make a mental note to pack lighter next time. For some peculiar reason, the captain’s chairs in the middle row only have armrests on one side. It makes occupants feel unbalanced.
Cleverly, the seat runners are powered and thanks to electrical contacts underneath the chairs, each can be heated. Unlike the front seats, second and third row passengers get an actual clicky button for this, instead of touchscreen hell. The luxury.

If you’re regularly seating seven, it’s worth upgrading to the longer L2, which keeps the same wheelbase but tacks on 200mm of rear overhang. As for boot space, there’s 469 litres in the base version, with up to 3,672 litres if you rip all the seats out and treat it like, well, a van. Go for the longer L2 and that’s a 763-litre boot with over 4,000 litres in Space Shuttle mode.

Out back the upward swinging tailgate is optionally motorised, but bike racks have to be towbar, not door-mounted – the Caravelle and California’s strengthened struts have not been carried over so the door isn’t powerful enough. The towbar is optional. Fit that towbar rack and you can’t open the boot. This catch-22 cost the Multivan three sales in the Top Gear office alone.

Buying

What should I be paying?

The base model is available from £43,258. It comes with a 1.5 turbo developing 136bhp and has to work so hard it only returns 35.5mpg. In case you’re interested, the base Multivan weighs about 1,960kg, a loaded hybrid adds about 200kg to that. Anyway, the base model comes for £399 a month and that’s not bad value in a sea of expensive SUVs that aren’t anything like as practical.

However, Life trim isn’t very lively. Jazz it up with some of the bubblier colours and you’ll be fine. Those are £930 a pop. If you want two-tone, that’s £2,700. Other options you might be tempted by: electric sliding doors are £1,620, three-zone AC is £1,200, a pano roof is £2,400, the upgraded tunes £1,080. You get the picture? It all adds up and you come out with an easy £50k bill for a small petrol minibus.

The eHybrid system adds £5,000. Financially it probably doesn’t make sense, but the sense of wellbeing and harmony it generates (and the future-proofing peace of mind) means it makes sense to stretch to it if you can.

The upper trim line is Style. It does without the base engines and prices start at £55,048. Depending on what options you want, it might be more cost effective to spec up a Life, than just plump for a Style. There’s some stuff on that you might not be that fussed about.

All Multivans will have LED front and rear lights, the multi-screened digital cockpit, centre and standard front anti-collision assist and lane-keep assist. It’s on every time you turn the car on. Luckily it’s also relatively easy to deactivate, via a button on the indicator stalk.

VW has used 50 per cent more high-strength steel in this Multivan than the old Caravelle, which uses more energy in production. But thanks to the 8kg lighter body and 45kg lighter suspension plus new powertrains and best-in-class aerodynamics, VW says this energy is offset in five years of use, and in the meantime, you have a stronger, safer, nicer-driving van.

Oh, and the Volkswagen internal record for removing all six passenger seats is 12 seconds. Your move.

Keyword: Volkswagen Multivan review

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