Photo: Newspress USA
Volkswagen just launched the ID.4, its first dedicated all-electric vehicle in America. However, many loyal fans of the brand were probably expecting to have a hippy EV van instead of a crossover. The good news is that the ID.Buzz is still on its way but will take until 2023 to make its market debut.
At this rate, I'll probably be retired as a motoring journalist before this car arrives. Sure, the ID.Buzz was shown as a concept relatively recently, in 2017. However, this idea is actually much older.
Though not many people remember it, there was a Microbus concept way back in 2001. Seven years later, American media reported that Volkswagen was once again at work on a revival of the famous bus and at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, we got the famous Bulli concept. It was powered by a 114-horsepower electric motor and a 40-kWh battery and was supposed to be ready by 2014.
The ID.Buzz came out six years after that, at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show with a firm promise to enter production in 2022. Now Car and Driver reports that the U.S. market launch has been pushed back, and we're getting a 2024 VW ID Buzz as a "luxurious long-wheelbase passenger van."
The information comes from Carsten Intra, head of the brand's Commercial Vehicles Division, so it's pretty reliable. The Europeans will have a commercial van version of this car in 2022, and that's expected to have some level of autonomy.
What's changed between the Bulli concept and the ID.Buzz? Mainly the arrival of the dedicated MEB platform, which underpins all of Volkswagen's future EVs. The 2024 model is expected to offer the same 201-horsepower RWD layout as the ID.4, though twin-motor setups with 270 or even 300 hp are also likely, Car and Driver claims.
While electric vehicles are becoming relatively common, the ID.Buzz offers something unique. It's a tribute to the iconic Bus that the company sold in North America from the 1950s. This timeless design is popular with collectors, and an EV revival sends the right message from an automaker whose image is still affected by the Dieselgate emissions scandal.
Though not many people remember it, there was a Microbus concept way back in 2001. Seven years later, American media reported that Volkswagen was once again at work on a revival of the famous bus and at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, we got the famous Bulli concept. It was powered by a 114-horsepower electric motor and a 40-kWh battery and was supposed to be ready by 2014.
The ID.Buzz came out six years after that, at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show with a firm promise to enter production in 2022. Now Car and Driver reports that the U.S. market launch has been pushed back, and we're getting a 2024 VW ID Buzz as a "luxurious long-wheelbase passenger van."
The information comes from Carsten Intra, head of the brand's Commercial Vehicles Division, so it's pretty reliable. The Europeans will have a commercial van version of this car in 2022, and that's expected to have some level of autonomy.
What's changed between the Bulli concept and the ID.Buzz? Mainly the arrival of the dedicated MEB platform, which underpins all of Volkswagen's future EVs. The 2024 model is expected to offer the same 201-horsepower RWD layout as the ID.4, though twin-motor setups with 270 or even 300 hp are also likely, Car and Driver claims.
While electric vehicles are becoming relatively common, the ID.Buzz offers something unique. It's a tribute to the iconic Bus that the company sold in North America from the 1950s. This timeless design is popular with collectors, and an EV revival sends the right message from an automaker whose image is still affected by the Dieselgate emissions scandal.
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