Performance plug-in hybrid now has an 81-mile EV range, but do the latest changes also make it a proper hot hatch? The Volkswagen Golf GTE has always been a curious machine. The badge suggests it’s a plug-in hybrid GTI, but the GTE has never really fooled the keen driver.In reality, it’s a regular VW Golf with some extra dynamic flair and a whole lot less company car tax. It's positioned alongside to the Golf GTI and below the more serious GTI Clubsport. It's not the only plug-in hybrid Golf in the range either: below it sits the Golf eHybrid PHEV. The first GTE arrived in 2014 and set the standard for PHEV hatchbacks. It shared its powertrain with the Audi A3 E-tron and offered an electric-only range of 31 miles.The second-generation GTE was on sale from 2021 to 2024 and gained a larger battery to increase its electric range to 38.5 miles.The game has since moved on and, like the rest of the Golf range, the GTE has gained some pretty impressive updates for 2024 to keep it in line with the model’s wide-reaching ‘Mk8.5’ mid-life update. For 2024, the GTE gets a much larger, 19.4kWh battery with a very impressive 81 miles of electric-only range. In the PHEV hatchback world, that's almost double what its Mercedes A250e rival offers and is really only beaten by the current VW Golf eHybrid and Audi A3 TFSIe. Several other changes have been made inside and out, which we'll get to in a moment. So is the Golf GTE a proper hybrid GTI, or just a slightly sportier plug-in hybrid? Let's find out...