Volkswagen has added an eight-seat option to the new Multivan lineup, turning its passenger van into an even more capable people-mover. While the eight-seat option won't be on offer in the new California camper van range, there will indeed be an eight-seat camper option. So owners will be able to shuttle around an entire starting basketball team, plus the coach and sixth man, during the week, then enjoy a properly comfy hard-wall van camping experience on weekends.
The new Multivan eight-seater officially joined available five-, six- and seven-seat layout options in late May. Available exclusively on the 204-in (517-cm) long-wheelbase Multivan, it features two complete rear rows of three seats each.
Rather than merely installing a big, clunky full-width bench, Volkswagen drops a third individual seat into the center of the second row, where the seven-seat configuration has only two seats. This layout provides loads of flexibility, allowing all six individual rear seats to remove and adjust independently to create the precise layout a driver needs at any given time to manage the number of passengers and amount of cargo aboard.
Volkswagen was quick to advertise the new option as the perfect shuttle and taxi and for private and business people-loading needs, but we were left wondering: Can you still camp in it?
We already know the new California is limited to between four and six seats, depending on trim, so we don't anticipate that equipment-filled camper line leaping over the seven-seat option to go straight to eight. But before Volkswagen even rejiggered the California lineup around the new Multivan, it offered a light sleeping option in the form of the Good Night package.
The Good Night package is centered around a collapsible bed that folds out over top the folded rear seats, securing to the vehicle body itself so that it does not rely on the seats for structural integrity. We've already seen it work with the seven-seater, as evidenced by the photo below.
Since the eight-seater requires nothing more than the addition of a middle second-row seat, it doesn't interfere with the operation of the folding bed. All six rear seats can be folded down to clear space for the bed setup. The Good Night package also comes with blackout blinds for the windows and storage accessories.
We reached out to Volkswagen's Vans department to make sure we weren't missing some unforeseen hardware or payload quirk that would make the eight-seater and Good Night package incompatible, and the company confirmed that the two options can be ordered together to create the ultra-versatile eight-seater light camper we had in mind.
Why would you want a two-sleeper camper with eight individual seats, you might ask. To extend the beautiful versatility the new Multivan already has in spades.
The eight-seater debuts as one of the most serious people-movers in the midsize van class, providing loads of space to carry large families, sports teams, and other large groups. With the addition of the Good Night package, it can compete with a very select few extra-versatile eight- and nine-seat compact light camper vans that are great daily drivers for large families during the week, highly capable getaways on the weekend.
The Multivan does lack some of the amenities those others offer, such as removable kitchen equipment and a pop-up sleeper roof, but it still offers a lighter version of that same everyday-to-holiday flexibility. And if Volkswagen or an aftermarket RV supplier were to create camping modules that mount to the floor rails and swap in for some of the Multivan's seats and/or a pop-up sleeper roof, the van could compete on all levels with the most versatile pop-up camper vans on the market, adding to Volkswagen's already unrivaled camper van heritage.
Even without those add-ons, which may or may not materialize, the eight-seat Multivan with Good Night package can serve faithfully as a highly capable passenger van during the week, comfortable two-person camper on weekends. Parents could use it to escape alone from their raucous teenagers for a quiet weekend in nature, or it could work as a sort of base camp "master bedroom" for two people while others sleep in a rooftop tent above or ground tent outside.
We should note that the Good Night bed travels on top of the folded third-row seats, so the light camper setup will seat only five people as designed, without getting creative in carrying the bed on a roof rack or something. The seats can also be removed for added cargo space.
Eight-seat pricing is dependent upon the trim level to which the buyer is adding the option. The entry level Multivan is sold as a five-seater, and adding in an extra row of three individual seats costs €1,612. The higher level "Life" and "Edition" models come with seven seats standard, and adding the extra seat to the package costs €660. The Good Night package can then be added for €2,927.
Those numbers aren't particularly useful unless you're familiar with Multivan pricing, so we configured online an entry-level 148-hp TDI-driven eight-seater with Good Night package, which comes out to €61,886 (approx. US$71,475) in Germany without any other optional upgrades. Sadly, the eight-seat configuration is only available as a front-wheel drive with either diesel or gas turbo engine, not as the eHybrid 4Motion plug-in hybrid all-wheel-drive.
Source: Volkswagen
