Stick some flowers in your hair and a cable in your socket - the all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz is finally here, and it’s a slice of the Sixties for the modern era.
You’ll hear VW talk at length about how this is the new incarnation of the classic ‘Bulli’ - the firm’s nickname for the original ‘T1’ hippy bus - from the 1950s and 60s.
And with the ID. Buzz first having been teased way back in 2017, it’s been a long term coming… and worth the wait.
First thing’s first, we still don’t know for sure what electric range the ID. Buzz will have. VW is still playing that stat close to its chest, with advance sales still not due to start until May.
But we do know that both the ID. Buzz MPV and the ID. Buzz Cargo van both enjoy a 77 kWh battery, and those in the know suggest it’ll have a range of up to 250 miles. Though, in reality, we’ll have to wait for VW to let the cat out of the bag.
The great news is that this 77 kWh battery enjoys a super fast charging capability, at up to 170 kW. Plug it in this way and you’ll replenish the battery from 5 to 80% in about 30 minutes. Of course, the battery can also be charged from wall boxes or public charging stations using 11 kW AC.
Meanwhile power from the battery - all 203 PS of it - drives the rear wheels, just as the classic T1 once did.
As befits a child of the Sixties, the ID. Buzz wears it’s eco credential like a ‘Ban the Bomb’ badge of honour.
Carsten Intra, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Brand, explains:
“Both versions of the ID. Buzz are pioneering in terms of their sustainability: their manufacture and shipping has a carbon-neutral footprint. We are also using recycled synthetic materials and the interior is completely free of any real leather.”
Tech levels are high, too.
Included as standard in the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo is the ‘Car2X’ local warning system, which utilises signals from other vehicles and the transport infrastructure to spot hazards in real time.
Also included as standard is VW’s ‘Front Assist’ emergency braking system and the MPV Buzz also gets ‘Lane Assist’ to keep you on the right path.
Also available as an option is ‘Travel Assist with swarm data’, which brings you partially-automated driving across the entire speed range and, for the first time, assisted lane-changing on the motorway.
The regular five-seat ID. Buzz boasts 1,121 litres of luggage capacity with the second row of seats folded flat, while the Cargo has a 3.9 m3 load space which can swallow two loaded euro pallets.
The ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo will come onto the market in the first few European countries this autumn.
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