Bulli for Volkswagen!
Ahead of its reveal of the revived “Bulli”, or “Kombi” as we know it, Volkswagen has revealed further details of the production ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo.
The five-seater people mover and its three-seater cargo van counterpart are set to be revealed on March 9, and will be launched in Europe in September.
Volkswagen has also confirmed long-wheelbase variants are coming “during the course of the coming year” with a “correspondingly broader range of possibilities in the interior”.
That suggests a three-row version will be introduced. Volkswagen has also previously said it’s aiming to create a SAE Level 4 autonomous version by 2025.
All ID. Buzz models share their MEB electric vehicle architecture with the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.6, among an increasing number of EVs across the Volkswagen Group.
The people mover and van will come with an 82kWh lithium-ion battery and a single, rear-mounted electric motor with 150kW of power and 310Nm of torque.
Volkswagen has yet to confirm the ID. Buzz’s driving range.
The company plans to introduce two features new for the brand at some stage: a ‘Plug & Charge’ function and bidirectional charging.
The former will allow the ID. Buzz to authenticate itself at many DC fast chargers via the charging connector, saving you from having to fiddle with an app or a charging station touchscreen.
Bidirectional charging is exactly what the name suggests. As an example, Volkswagen suggests owners could store excess power from their home solar panels in the ID. Buzz and then feed it back into their home in the evening.
The ID. Buzz is expected to be available with all the latest active safety and driver assist features, and Volkswagen has a few new ones to roll out.
These include a ‘Trained Parking’ function, which will automatically manoeuvre the car in and out of a parking space, a ‘Car2X’ function that’ll provide warnings and hazard alerts, and the latest version of ‘Travel Assist’ that’ll utilise crowdsourced data.
The ID Buzz and ID Buzz Cargo measure 4712mm long on a 2988mm wheelbase. That wheelbase length is just 2mm shy of the T6.1 vans, which measure 4904mm long overall.
The new models are also 1985mm wide, or 81mm wider than a T6.1, and either 1937mm or 1938mm tall depending on the variant.
There’ll be a range of wheels available, from 18-inches to 21-inches, and the new electric vans will have a turning circle of just over 11 metres.
Inside, the ID. Buzz has 1121L of cargo space behind the second row; the ID. Buzz Cargo has over 3.9m3 behind its partition wall.
The interior of the ID Buzz has already been leaked, and shares much with the other ID-branded Volkswagens inside.
That includes the steering wheel, digital instrument cluster and touchscreen.
The ID.3 and ID.4 have both been made available with interior colourways with prominent orange accents, but the ID. Buzz kicks it up a notch with an interior almost entirely orange and white, save for the carpets and items like the seat bases and tray tables.
The seats are finished in an attractive, patterned cloth upholstery.
There’s a fold-out storage caddy in the centre stack containing two cupholders, while you can spy at least one easter egg in these photos: a silhouette of the car embossed in the side of the second-row seat bases.
In the load space, there’s a shelf of sorts to give the ID. Buzz a flat load floor.
Something missing from the concept is the seating rail system, which allowed you to reconfigure the interior to your heart’s desire.
The concept’s clever seating arrangement allowed you to turn the front seats to face those in the rear, or use one of the second-row seats as a table. It’s possible this feature could come with the long-wheelbase model.
Pictured: ID. Buzz concept
The ID. Buzz was first previewed in concept form at the 2017 Detroit motor show.
Since then, it’s been spied countless times and most recently had photos of its interior leaked.
Volkswagen is testing it in plain sight, with a camouflage wrap that leaves little to the imagination.
The company says it’s “rigorously transferred the styling of the 2017 concept car to the 2022 full-production version”, and that the Buzzes draw on stylistic elements from the original T1 such as short overhangs, a division between the upper and lower part of the body, and the V-shaped face.
ID. Buzz concept
Keyword: Volkswagen ID. Buzz detailed ahead of March 9 reveal