It feels like there is a new electric car, truck or SUV hitting the road every day as we are in the middle of an EV revolution. If you want an electric van, your options are limited, which is exactly what VW is hoping to address with the upcoming ID.Buzz.
I was unable to attend the official debut of the ID.Buzz at the South by Southwest festival, so when I heard that it would be making another appearance at the New York International Auto Show, I made sure to check it out. VW isn't calling the ID.Buzz a van, so I'll let you decide where this thing fits among other EVs. The European version will have a 77kWh battery and two rows of seats, while the full three rows of seats version will be slightly longer. The range and price are still to be determined.
This is a production-ready car, so it is more or less what you will see at dealers, unlike the countless number of Microbus concepts we have seen over the past 20 years. I think it looks great. When you think about buying a van, it feels like you're giving up on being cool in favor of practicality.
The Microbus is the same color scheme as the original. There will be less flashy single-color paint jobs if that is what you want. The company has gone minimalist with a lot of its details, opting for clean lines and a big VW logo in front and back, along with blacked-out pillars that makes the bus look like it.
The front grille and interior are the same design as the new styling, with animal-free upholstery and vegan leather. The VW ID.4 has a small display behind the steering wheel and a larger screen in the center that can be changed to match the Buzz's paint job. I didn't get to see the heads-up notification system in action because it was only active when the car was in motion.
The interior of ID.Buzz has a lot of little touches. I bet the US version will have at least one or two more for third-row passengers. VW made it so that you can remove the center console between the front seats, giving passengers more room to move about. There were some easter eggs, like a face behind the interior door handle and a Buzz logo on the base of the rear seats. There is an accessory that goes in the trunk to make a flat load shelf. One of the best things about the old Microbus was the ability to use the Buzz for things like camping.
When you look at the future van market, VW is leading the way. Ford is working on an electric version of the Transit, while Mercedes has an EV version of the Sprinter. Commercial vehicles are not something that the average person would buy. The use case for an electric vehicle is if you want to haul kids or animals around town.
When the ID.Buzz arrives in 2024, it will be ahead of competitors like the Chrysler Pacifica, which only exists as a plug-in hybrid. The ID.Buzz is an electric van and VW has made a great reinterpretation of a classic. VW is planning to make a cargo version of the ID.Buzz too.
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