VIDEO / TESTAfter years of attracting attention with promising study models, Volkswagen has finally pulled the curtain on ID.Buzz. The ‘Hippiebus’ in 2022 is fully electric and makes a clear nod to the first Transporter (the T1) from the 1950s.
Roland Tameling
More than twenty years ago, Volkswagen already showed a study model of a new-fashioned VW Bus, as the Transporter has also become known over the years. Several times, enthusiasts were made happy with a dead sparrow, because every promising concept car that hinted at a modern ‘Hippiebus’ disappeared time and again in the refrigerator. Until now, because the ID.Buzz unveiled today will actually go into production later this year.
On the one hand, the 4.71 meter long ID.Buzz will be launched on the market as a fully electric passenger car. The versions that will be launched this year all have five seats, but an extended variant will also appear later that can take six or seven people if desired. In all cases you get a battery bus with two sliding side doors at the back as standard and an enormous amount of luggage space: even with five people it can carry more than 1100 liters, when you fold the rear seats the volume even rises to more than 2205 liters.
Also immediately as a company car: ID.Buzz Cargo
Volkswagen is also presenting a delivery van version, which is called ID.Buzz Cargo. That variant of the ‘Bulli’ (as the Germans also call the Transporter, a combination of ‘Bus’ and ‘Lieferwagen’) can immediately be seen as an electric alternative to the ‘normal’ Transporter with fuel engines, which will remain available as usual. . The Cargo has one sliding door as standard, a second is available as an option. Just like two back doors, if you don’t find the large tailgate handy. In the single cabin of this version, VW screws two or three seats as desired, while items of more than 2.20 meters in length find a place in the cargo area.
The volume of the cargo space is 3.9 cubic meters, while the load capacity is at least 600 kilos – in addition to 100 kilos on a possible roof rack. Volkswagen hastens to emphasize that two Euro pallets can fit in the Cargo one after the other. A standard pallet is 1.20 meters wide, the distance between the rear wheel arches is exactly 1.23 meters. If desired, you can have the ID.Buzz fitted with rails to secure your belongings, while six lashing eyes are also available as standard. Striking: the cargo floor is barely higher than in a ‘normal’ van, despite the presence of the batteries and the engine under that floor. Attractive to entrepreneurs who often have to be in tight city centers: the turning circle of the car is just over 11 metres, which is quite small for such a long car and comparable to the current Volkswagen Golf.
Always a motorcycle in the back
Each ID.Buzz gets a motor between the rear wheels. Just like with the first three generations of the Transporter, although the latest generation does not want petrol or diesel, but electricity. For the time being, the electric motor has a standard power of 150 kilowatts (or 204 hp), but VW already promises that versions will come with a second motor between the front wheels. So it gets – in addition to more power – also four-wheel drive, just like you can choose with the ID.4 and ID.5.
Under the skin, the Buzz has a lot in common with the other ID models from Volkswagen. While you can order battery packs of different sizes in the ID.3, 4 and 5, VW only offers the largest pack in the ID.Buzz with a usable capacity of 77 kilowatt hours. It is expected that the extended versions will have many more battery cells on board, there are rumors of variants with more than 100 kilowatt hours. Volkswagen will reveal the power and performance of those versions later. Volkswagen does not yet announce how far the versions with 77 kWh can get on one battery charge, but the test model we drove (see the video with this story) should be able to cover about 400 kilometers. Also noteworthy: to ensure that you don’t race through your power supply too quickly, the ID. Buzz electronically limited at 145 kilometers per hour.
By default, the ID.Buzz can charge with 11 kilowatts at a public charging point. For the time being, fast charging is possible with a maximum of 170 kilowatts, with which you can increase the battery percentage – at least according to VW – from 5 to 80 percent in half an hour. Subsequent software updates, which Volkswagen can implement wirelessly, should increase the charging speed further in the future.
It is striking that the ID.Buzz is prepared for so-called ‘bidirectional charging’: with this the car can provide your house with energy, for example, when the power grid needs support. It is not possible to charge other devices via the charging port (such as with the Hyundai Ioniq 5), but VW does hide a power point with 230 volts in the interior. With the Cargo, it is strikingly enough between the front seats, instead of in the luggage compartment. According to Volkswagen, this is because handymen, for example, prefer to charge their tools within reach and not leave them lying around in the cargo area.
Recycled materials
The interior of the ID.Buzz has two characters: in the Cargo you get a lot of black, robust-looking plastic and a lot of storage compartments. That remains intact and is very handy when you have to go to and from your job of the day. With the passenger car versions you can opt for a much more frivolous decoration: there is a white interior with yellow or orange details, which are even implemented in the dashboard. Furthermore, wooden panels attract attention and VW reports that leather upholstery is no longer available: instead parts of the seat upholstery, the carpet and the headliner are made from recycled products.
In various places in the interior, Volkswagen is quite enthusiastic with cheerful details. For example, you see small images of the car in various plastic panels, a small ID.Buzz ‘hides’ for the ‘rain’ in the margins of the side windows and the ID.Buzz sprinkles with winking smileys at the door handles, among other things. It should be your taste, but at least it is not boring. The colorful equipment is also available at an additional cost, as is the two-tone paint.
The new Volkswagen ID.Buzz and ID.Buzz Cargo should be available at the Dutch dealers in October. The Dutch importer will announce what the different versions will cost around May this year. In the summer, the car is already touring Dutch dealers for a first acquaintance with potential buyers. It is expected that a fully decorated version of the passenger version will cost more than the more compact ID.4 in a comparable version; in that case you are probably talking about a car that should easily yield sixty thousand euros. The starting prices will of course be much lower, but they will follow in the run-up to the market introduction.
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