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2023 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Revealed, U.S. Getting Passenger Van for MY24

Years in the making, the ID. Buzz is Volkswagen’s first commercial vehicle based on the MEB platform introduced by the ID.3 compact hatchback and ID.4 compact utility vehicle. The German automaker will offer the all-electric newcomer in cargo or passenger versions with two wheelbase options and a rear-mounted electric motor that produces 201 ponies.
2023 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo 22 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
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Revealed with the help of Ewan “I have the high ground” McGregor, the ID. Buzz features a floor-installed battery that brings the center of gravity down for improved handling. It’s also gifted with a high seating position, similar to what you would expect of the combustion-engined predecessors.

Clearly inspired by the original Transporter, this fellow maximizes interior space with short overhangs fore and aft. Although it’s shorter than the T6.1, the ID. Buzz features pretty much the same wheelbase as the T6.1 generation. The dashboard is eerily similar to the ID.3 and ID.4 because why not? Volkswagen shares many parts between platform siblings to keep the costs down as much as possible, and that’s essential if you remember that EVs are costly for the time being because of the battery’s chemistry.

Over in Europe, the standard-wheelbase variant is expected to roll out in the third quarter of the year in two configurations: five-seat passenger van or work-oriented panel van. A three-row passenger van with six seats is due later. American customers, on the other hand, will be offered the long-wheelbase passenger van with seven seats in 2024 for MY24.

Customers in the Old Continent will be presented with the seven-seat option next year. The ID. Buzz Cargo is offered with two individual seats or a driver’s seat and a two-passenger bench. A single battery option will be offered initially: an 82-kWh pack with a net capacity of 77 kWh. The rear-mounted electric motor produces 310 Nm (229 pound-feet) of torque, which is more than adequate for this application. However, the Wolfsburg-based automaker did state that more battery pack options are in the pipeline.

The ID. Buzz family is limited to 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour), and somewhat understandably for a light commercial vehicle, Volkswagen didn’t mention how fast it accelerates to 100 kph (62 mph). But curiously enough, Volkswagen hasn't mentioned WLTP or EPA driving ranges either.

“Both versions of the ID. Buzz are pioneering in terms of their sustainability: their manufacture and shipping has a carbon-neutral footprint,” said Carsten Intra, chairman of the board of management at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “We are also using recycled synthetic materials and the interior is completely free of any real leather. ID. Buzz will also be used for future autonomous mobility concepts such as ridepooling – an e-shuttle service of MOIA. The electric Bulli is thus also a part of the future of urban transport.”


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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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