VW ID.Buzz first look: An EV that makes vans cool again

We’re in the midst of an EV revolution and day by day it looks like there is a new electrical automotive, truck or SUV hitting the street. However if you’d like an electrical van, your choices are much more restricted, which is exactly what VW is hoping to deal with with the upcoming ID.Buzz.

Sadly, I wasn’t capable of attend the ID.Buzz’s , so once I heard that it could be making one other look on the New York Worldwide Auto Present, I made certain to cease by and test it out. Now technically, VW is not calling the ID.Buzz a van, so I’ll allow you to determine the place this factor suits amongst different EVs. However what we do know is that it’s slated to go on sale someday in 2024, that includes a 77-kWh battery with two rows of seats for the European mannequin (which is what model VW had on show) or a full three rows of seats and barely longer chassis for the US market. Different specs like its vary and worth are nonetheless to be decided.

However make no mistake, in contrast to the numerous variety of we have seen over the previous 20 years, this can be a production-ready automotive, so it is roughly what you will see at sellers. And I believe it appears to be like completely implausible, which is definitely form of spectacular. Usually, when you concentrate on shopping for a van, it feels such as you’re giving up on being hip or cool in favor of practicality.

Similar to the unique, VW has stored the Microbus’ two-toned coloration scheme. Although if that is a bit a lot on your style, there may even be much less flashy single-color paint jobs. In the meantime, to carry the Microbus’ design into the twenty first century, the corporate has gone minimalist with a number of its particulars, choosing clear strains and an enormous VW brand in back and front, together with blacked-out pillars that makes the bus seem like it is carrying a visor.

Inside, VW continues the brand new styling through the use of the identical diamond sample seen on the entrance grille, and a two-toned inside that includes animal-free upholstery and vegan leather-based. The infotainment system is much like what’s out there within the , with a small show behind the steering wheel and a bigger touchscreen within the heart sporting icons that may be made to match the Buzz’s paint job. There’s additionally a skinny lightstrip that runs throughout the bottom of the windshield that serves as a heads-up notification system, although I did not get to see it in motion as a result of it is usually solely lively when the automotive is in movement.

My favourite factor concerning the ID.Buzz’s inside are all of the little usability touches. I noticed at least 4 USB-C ports — one in each door — and I am keen to wager the US model could have not less than one or two extra for third-row passengers. VW additionally made it in an effort to utterly take away the middle console between the entrance seats, giving passengers extra room to maneuver about. It even threw in some enjoyable easter eggs like a smiley face behind the entrance passenger’s inside door deal with and little ID.Buzz logos on the rear windshield and the bottom of the rear seats. And whereas VW did not have it available, there’s even an adjunct that goes within the trunk to create a flat load shelf. Meaning you may throw a mattress in again and use the Buzz for stuff like tenting, which was top-of-the-line issues concerning the outdated Microbus.

Maybe most significantly, if you step again and take a look at the long run van market, VW is main the way in which with the ID.Buzz. Certain, Ford is engaged on an electrical model of the Transit, and Mercedes has an EV model of Sprinter. However these are designed to be business automobiles, not one thing that the typical particular person may purchase. And that is form of unhappy, as a result of hauling youngsters or animals quick distances round city is the proper use case for an electrical automobile.

So when the ID.Buzz lastly arrives someday in 2024, it’s going to be properly forward of opponents just like the , which at present solely exists as a plug-in hybrid. Not solely has VW made what appears to be like to be a fantastic reinterpretation of a basic, the ID.Buzz is a pioneering electrical van. Oh, and should you simply need to haul stuff round, VW is planning to make a cargo model of the ID.Buzz too.