Photo: Volkswagen
The I.D. Buzz is Volkswagen’s highlight for the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, and almost half a year since then, the company confirmed the year the production model will hit the showroom floor. As it happens, the electric Microbus is scheduled for 2022, targeting North America, Europe, and the flourishing market of China.
It took long enough for Volkswagen to offer this information on the I.D. Buzz-inspired electric van, but we’re glad the Wolfsburg-based automaker did it eventually. The e-Microbus will arrive after the four-door I.D. model, and it will be available in at least two configurations. The first is meant for transporting cargo, and it’s confirmed to get Level 3 autonomous driving technology.
The variant designed for passengers, meanwhile, promises to offer plenty of space and supreme modularity. "After the presentations at the global motor shows in Detroit and Geneva, we received a large number of letters and emails from customers who said, 'please build this car'," declared chief executive officer Dr. Herbert Diess. And that, apparently, was enough for the higher-ups to give the go-ahead to the future model's engineers.
"The Microbus, which is what the Bulli is called in America, has always been part of the California lifestyle,” added Diess. “Now we're bringing it back by developing Volkswagen's next e-generation and by reinventing the Bulli as an electric vehicle." And just like the concept, the production vehicle will have its batteries mounted in the floor to maximize passenger and cargo space.
Variable seating and interactive connectivity are confirmed, but nothing much is known about what will make the electric Microbus tick under the bodywork. The concept, for example, has 111 kWh of juice at its disposal. The MEB platform can be adapted for front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive, with Volkswagen arguing that the electric Microbus can be set up with a 268-horsepower electric motor at the rear axle and an 83 kWh battery.
Design ideas will be borrowed from the concept, and the e-van is just one of “more than 30 all-electric models” Volkswagen will debut by 2025.
The variant designed for passengers, meanwhile, promises to offer plenty of space and supreme modularity. "After the presentations at the global motor shows in Detroit and Geneva, we received a large number of letters and emails from customers who said, 'please build this car'," declared chief executive officer Dr. Herbert Diess. And that, apparently, was enough for the higher-ups to give the go-ahead to the future model's engineers.
"The Microbus, which is what the Bulli is called in America, has always been part of the California lifestyle,” added Diess. “Now we're bringing it back by developing Volkswagen's next e-generation and by reinventing the Bulli as an electric vehicle." And just like the concept, the production vehicle will have its batteries mounted in the floor to maximize passenger and cargo space.
Variable seating and interactive connectivity are confirmed, but nothing much is known about what will make the electric Microbus tick under the bodywork. The concept, for example, has 111 kWh of juice at its disposal. The MEB platform can be adapted for front-, rear-, and all-wheel-drive, with Volkswagen arguing that the electric Microbus can be set up with a 268-horsepower electric motor at the rear axle and an 83 kWh battery.
Design ideas will be borrowed from the concept, and the e-van is just one of “more than 30 all-electric models” Volkswagen will debut by 2025.
Google News