Car Reviews > SEAT > Leon > SEAT Leon TwinDrive Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Prices: £20,000 (estimated)
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol plus electric motor
Gearbox: Single-speed, front-wheel drive Power: 163 bhp (combined), 116 bhp (electric motor) 0-60 mph: 12 seconds (estimated)
Top Speed: 106 miles per hour
Economy: 166 miles per gallon
Emissions: 39g per kilometre
Equipment: Power source monitor and controller, with mobile phone application, GPS satellite navigation, air conditioning, electric windows
On Sale: 2015

The SEAT Leon has a new range-extending version that has promising economy figures of 166 miles per gallon and CO2 emissions of as low as just 39g per kilometre.

The Ecomotive accounts at present for as much as 47 per cent of all SEAT sales in the United Kingdom, and the company is intending to increase that number with a new Leon plug-in hybrid Ecomotive, set for release in 2015.

The car is called the TwinDrive and is one of a number of versions of a brand new Leon that will be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March next year, although the company has allowed for the testing of the kind of technology that will underpin the new model in a current Leon.

Underneath the skin is the 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine from the VW Group, which has been linked to an electric motor capable of a bhp rating of 166. They either work independently of one another or can combine in order to be able to provide a power output of 163 bhp.

Sitting under the floor of the boot are the lithium-ion batteries, which can be charged with the socket that is situated close to the front fog lamp. As is the case with other range-extending electric vehicles, a full charge takes almost eight hours from a domestic supply, or just two hours is using a high-voltage fast charger.

When you turn the key, the silence lets you know that the TwinDrive commences every journey operating solely on battery power. The car can do up to 32 miles in this mode alone and even hit a speed of 75 miles per hour. Push one button on the central console however, and the Leon instantly changes back to being a normal hybrid, and is able to do in such a seamless fashion that you barely even notice when the internal combustion engine fires up. The cleverest aspect of the Twin Drive by far, though, is the control unit that has been integrated into the GPS.

This means that you can actually program how you want to be able to use plug-in power, ultimately meaning that the car has a complete range of no less than 562 miles.

When at very high speeds, a clutch engages and both engine and electric motor begin to work together in order to keep up the momentum. When on the motorway, the engine is actually so refined that it is barely audible, and even when under very hard acceleration, the noise still fails to become unpleasantly harsh.

The 600 Nm of torque from the electric motor provides an extra shove that gives it a convenient turn of speed, especially when driving between 30 and 50 miles per hour. The most eye-catching aspect of the vehicle, however, is definitely its fuel economy figures. SEAT is claiming it is capable of returning as much as 166 miles per gallon, while providing CO2 emissions as low as just 39g per kilometre.

Buyers are expected to pay a premium of £2500 more than the diesel engine, putting the starting price at around £20,000, which makes the new Leon a very appealing proposition indeed.

by Autoweb