• Choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid
• Acceptable performance from all
• Diesel still the long-distance king

VW has offered the Multivan with a range of four engines: two petrol, one diesel, and one plug-in hybrid. All of them are mated to a DSG automatic gearbox, with six ratios for the plug-in hybrid and seven for all the others. This is generally a quick-shifting automatic and pairs well with all the engine options – but it can be a little hesitant at times, then tends to overcompensate by reacting too abruptly. To our mind, it’s the least polished aspect of the Multivan driving experience.

However, at the time of writing in August 2024, only the diesel engine is currently in the price list. We understand this is a temporary supply issue, so for the moment you’ll still find details of our experience with the entire engine range below.

Petrol engines

The entry-level engine is previously been a 136hp 1.5-litre TSI turbo petrol. Bluntly, to us this has always felt sluggish and not quite up to the task of coping with the Multivan’s bulk, especially when you’ve got a full complement of passengers on board.

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As such, the 204hp 2.0-litre turbo petrol is a much better option – providing plenty of extra muscle, this is the engine we chose for our long-term test. Smooth when cruising and very quiet at low revs, it does a great job if you’re not too demanding, nor too bothered about fuel economy.

Most buyers, however, will be betted served by the petrol-electric plug-in hybrid or the traditional 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesel.

Diesel engine

The diesel in the Multivan is the same hardworking 2.0-litre TDI as you’ll find in thousands of VW’s passenger cars. With 150hp in this application it’s not super quick, but it has plenty of torque (pulling power), making it well able to cope with a fully-loaded Multivan.

It’s also very efficient in comparison to the petrol engines, making it the cheapest version to run if you plan to do longer distances.

Plug-in hybrid

Known as the Multivan eHybrid, this uses a plug-in powertrain similar to many other VW cars. In initial guise this meant a combination of 1.4-litre TSI turbo petrol engine and an electric motor, with a combined power output of 218hp and the ability to run on electric power alone for around 20 miles in the real world (the official figure is 30 miles but our experience says otherwise).

It’s more than powerful enough to cope with Multivan loaded with people and luggage, and the ability to cruise around silently producing zero emissions certainly appeals to us as parents of small children. However, you don’t get a very big petrol tank, so we found ourselves stopping to refuel more regularly on longer journeys where the hybrid system is less useful.

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Still, you can charge the e-motor’s battery pack while you’re driving, so you can always make sure that urban electric driving is possible. This isn’t brilliant for the fuel economy, but is a feature we’ve always taken advantage of.

When the plug-in hybrid Multivan returns to the pricelist, we’re expecting it to receive an upgrade to a 1.5-litre TSI turbo petrol engine, resulting in an increase to 245hp – plus an as yet unspecified improvement to the electric driving range.

What’s it like to drive?

• Comfortable and accomplished driving experience
• Light and accurate steering, not much body roll
• Far more car-like than the Caravelle, and many rivals

There’s no escaping the sheer size of the Multivan, but the driving experience is far more polished than it was in the old VW Caravelle.

The driving position is less upright and more car-like, and the steering more direct, requiring fewer turns of the wheel to get the same result. This makes the Multivan engaging to pilot on twisting roads and easy to handle around town, yet still provides enough stability to make long distance motorway driving a relaxed affair.

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This is a reasonably tall vehicle, but doesn’t roll around too much in the corners, helping to make the Multivan confidence-inspiring to drive and reducing the likeliness of carsickness from its rear occupants. At the same time, it’s very comfortable, with a stiff structure that doesn’t rattle or shimmy too much.

A Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive suspension system has been offered, which can control how stiff the suspension feels – but the ordinary suspension is so good we wouldn’t bother seeking this out.