After waiting for more than two decades to see the electric van, Volkswagen finally unveiled this week in Paris the production-ready ID. Buzz. It showed the standard-wheelbase passenger model along with the Cargo workhorse. A stretched version has already been promised for a launch in the United States in 2024, with a California camper due to arrive about a year later.
What else has VW Commercial Vehicles on the agenda for the Microbus' electric revival? Top Gear magazine has learned a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive version will join the lineup at some point. That doesn't come as a surprise since the hardware is already available in the ID.4 GTX and ID.5 GTX SUVs packing around 300 horsepower. In the US, where the swoopy ID.5 is not available, the all-paw setup is simply known as the AWD model.
Interestingly, there are apparently plans for an ID. Buzz Pure to serve as the entry-level trim. It's said to come only with a five-seat layout, meaning buyers won't be able to order it with the optional three front seats. It will eschew the 77-kWh battery of the more expensive version for a smaller 58-kWh pack. We're talking about the net capacity as the gross capacity stands at 82 kWh and 62 kWh, respectively. In the case of the not-for-America ID.3, VW sells an even smaller battery with 55 kWh of which only 45 kWh are usable.
At the other end of the spectrum, the long-wheelbase model we mentioned earlier will have more room between the axles for a bigger battery. VW has told Autocar the LWB variant is going to receive a 111-kWh pack.
The ID. Buzz will join not only the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.5 in Europe, but also the e-up! VW's entry-level EV is once again available to order on the Old Continent after the company cleared out the backlog. Its days are however numbered since a production version of the ID. Life concept will arrive in 2025 on the FWD-based MEB Small platform.
The lineup will further grow by the middle of the decade with a road-going ID. Vizzion, which could get a wagon version as a follow-up to the ID. Space Vizzion. At the top of VW's offerings will be "Trinity," a sedan (or liftback) due in 2026 from a newly built $2.2-billion factory in Wolfsburg.
