Volkswagen is getting ready to welcome its first plug-in hybrid car to Australia.
The big Touareg R SUV will touch down towards the end of 2022, with a plug-in hybrid powertrain good for a 5.1-second sprint to 100km/h and 47km of electric range.
When it arrives, the Touareg R will join the 2022 Golf R, Tiguan R, and T-Roc R in the Volkswagen Australia stable.
It’s meant to serve as a halo car for Volkswagen, taking on the BMW X5 and Audi Q7 in the process.
The Touareg R uses a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine with 250kW of power and 400Nm of torque, combined with a 100kW/400Nm electric motor, an eight-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.
Total system outputs are 340kW and 700Nm, and top speed in electric mode is 135km/h.
The 14.3kWh lithium-ion battery pack can be charged in 2.5 hours using a 7.2kW home wall box.
Braked towing capacity is 3500kg. Although it doesn’t have a thumping V8 engine under the bonnet, the plug-in hybrid Touareg shapes as a left-field row rig for the well-heeled.
Although it will be the first Volkswagen-badged plug-in hybrid approved for Australia, the Touareg R won’t be the first mainstream Volkswagen Group PHEV in local showrooms.
That honour belongs to Cupra, which will launch with plug-in hybrid versions of its Leon and Formentor in the middle of 2022.
Audi has previously offered the A3 e-Tron plug-in hybrid locally as well.
Pricing for the Touareg R will be revealed alongside details about the updated 2022 Touareg range in the coming months.
