Photo: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
Right after the I.D. Concept from the 2016 Paris Motor Show, the biggest German automaker of them all took the veils off the I.D. Buzz Concept at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Just like the ID.3 hatchback, the all-electric successor of the Microbus is due to enter production with quirky design cues and multiple powertrain choices.
Spied during high-altitude testing with T6 body panels and a shorter wheelbase than the T6, the passenger van is directly connected to the ID.3 because of the MEB vehicle architecture. As of June 2021, the modular platform accommodates rear- and all-wheel drive and three battery options.
The carparazzi have also managed to snap a picture of the interior, revealing the same touchscreen infotainment system, shifter, digital instrument cluster, and steering wheel as the ID.3 for the European market. The upper part of the dashboard is nothing more than a flat piece of plastic, while the door cards and textile seats clearly aren’t production-spec either.
Carsten Intra, the head of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, recently confirmed that the ID.Buzz will launch in the United States in 2023 for the 2024 model year. European customers will get the all-electric van by the end of 2022 as a 2023 model; the Old Continent will also receive a cargo-oriented panel van that should cater to small businesses like florists.
Fast forward to 2025, and a self-driving Microbus is expected to roll out with autonomous technology from Argo AI. This variant of the ID.Buzz will be first fielded by Volkswagen and Argo AI as a self-driving taxi.
Revealed as a concept with a 111-kWh battery, a 369-horsepower drivetrain consisting of two electric motors, and an estimated driving range of up to 270 miles (435 kilometers) for the U.S. market, the ID. Buzz has the makings of commercial success as long as Tesla and legacy automakers such as General Motors don’t tap into the electric van market until 2024.
The carparazzi have also managed to snap a picture of the interior, revealing the same touchscreen infotainment system, shifter, digital instrument cluster, and steering wheel as the ID.3 for the European market. The upper part of the dashboard is nothing more than a flat piece of plastic, while the door cards and textile seats clearly aren’t production-spec either.
Carsten Intra, the head of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, recently confirmed that the ID.Buzz will launch in the United States in 2023 for the 2024 model year. European customers will get the all-electric van by the end of 2022 as a 2023 model; the Old Continent will also receive a cargo-oriented panel van that should cater to small businesses like florists.
Fast forward to 2025, and a self-driving Microbus is expected to roll out with autonomous technology from Argo AI. This variant of the ID.Buzz will be first fielded by Volkswagen and Argo AI as a self-driving taxi.
Revealed as a concept with a 111-kWh battery, a 369-horsepower drivetrain consisting of two electric motors, and an estimated driving range of up to 270 miles (435 kilometers) for the U.S. market, the ID. Buzz has the makings of commercial success as long as Tesla and legacy automakers such as General Motors don’t tap into the electric van market until 2024.
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