RYAN ZUMMALLEN: What's up, hippies?
I'm here with the Volkswagen ID.Buzz Yes, it's finally here.
It's big.
It's round.
And it's fully electric.
But is it cool?
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That's what we're here to find out.
And the ID.Buzz is finally here in production form.
But there's still so much that we don't know about it,
like what does it cost?
And when is it going to come out?
And can you put a couch, and curtains,
and teak wood flooring inside?
Let's find out together.
First of all, let's take a second and just bask in it.
Can we do that?
There are a lot of really distinct visual cues
about the ID.Buzz.
First of all, it's long, obviously.
It's tall.
And it kind of sends your eyes upward,
which is a cool trick with all that glass running
around the top.
Now, there is a little bit of a quasi-minivan vibe going on.
But the ID.Buzz embraces its van-ness.
So it's definitely got a distinct personality.
Now, it is a little bit of a departure
from some of the concepts that we saw earlier.
Those models were much more rounded in certain areas,
especially in the front bumper and like the rear roofline.
Personally, I think that takes away
from the friendliness of those earlier models
just a little bit.
But you just don't see models like this very often,
especially in the US.
Speaking of the US, this is actually a European market
version, which means this is what
it's going to look like on the other side of the Atlantic.
But when it comes to the US, this
is basically what we're going to see.
Now, we do expect to see some different versions in the US,
like a longer wheelbase version, as well
as a fully commercial cargo van that's
stripped out on the inside for max cargo space.
Now, what's it going to cost?
Initially when we were making projections,
we aimed in around the $40,000 range.
But in the last few years, knowing
what we know now about EV models,
especially halo versions like the Rivian R1T, or Ford F-150
Lightning, or the Hummer EV, now we're
thinking more along the lines of $60,000.
And that's being optimistic.
But in terms of when we're going to see it in the US,
VW is saying that we'll see that official version in 2023.
And production will begin in 2024.
After you've waited all that time and paid all that money,
what do you actually get?
Well, you get a fully electric van
with a battery pack under the floor.
And that's sending power to an electric motor
at the rear wheels.
And we also expect future US versions
to offer all-wheel drive with dual electric motors.
Now, the ID.Buzz and the Volkswagen ID.4
actually share a lot in common.
That's the electric compact crossover.
And they share the same structure called MEB.
It's just that for the ID.Buzz, they stretched it out
to give it more space.
The ID.4 and the ID.Buzz also share the battery pack,
which is 77 kilowatt hours.
Now, they also share the single electric motor,
which is making 201 horsepower in both models.
We expect dual-motor versions in the future
to come around 300 horsepower.
Now, the one thing we really don't know yet is range.
Those numbers could equate to something around 250 miles
in certain versions.
But it's just too early to speculate given the increased
size and weight of the ID.Buzz.
So let's say you got your ID.Buzz
and you're heading up to Joshua Tree because of course you are.
How do you actually get there?
Well, you come around to the charge port, which
is on the rear passenger side.
Open it up.
And plug in right there.
Now, we don't charging speeds yet.
But Volkswagen says it's fair to estimate
something similar to the ID.4.
That can charge overnight on a level two home charger.
And at a level three fast charging station,
it can get from 5% up to 80% in about 30 minutes.
So it's safe to say that the standard battery
version of the ID.Buzz.
Will do something similar.
But where do you actually plug in?
Well, of course you can plug in at home
if you have a system installed.
Or you can use a public charging network.
Basically, any of them except for Tesla's.
Now we're inside the ID.Buzz.
And is the US version that we get going to look like this?
I sure hope so.
There is a ton of room in here.
I'm 6 feet tall, which means I'm a Tinder 6' 2".
And there's plenty of headroom all the way throughout
and lots of space to move around and also place things.
This has a cool pullout feature.
And this whole console will even come all the way out.
It's fully removable.
There are also lots of cool places to put your stuff,
like this big rubberized tray up here, a section for your phone
in here that's pretty deep, and then another one in the door
pocket here.
So there's lots of hard plastic in here.
But also, it's mixed up with rubber, and fake wood,
and some cool aluminum.
And everything's textured, or patterned,
or just has a cool look and feel to it.
So it's dressing up a pretty affordable interior, which
is a good sign, I think anyway.
Now, one of the hallmarks of the original Volkswagen Microbus
was having great visibility because there really wasn't
much of a hood in front of you.
There's some similarities and some differences here.
You do get a really nice view of the road
ahead because the hood is sloping so far forward.
But there's a lot of real estate between you
and the windshield, actually.
So it's not quite as close as it may appear at first.
But still, all this big glass all the way around you
gives you a really nice outward view.
I don't want to judge the mirrors
right now because I imagine that may change on the US version.
As far as tech, this has the optional 12-inch touch screen.
It's very, very similar to what's in the ID.4 and the GTI.
We have knocked those models because they
don't have physical buttons.
Everything is touch capacitive.
And it's kind of frustrating to use from time to time.
But Volkswagen seems very committed to it.
So it's happening.
You also get a small driver information display right up
here.
And your gear selector is up here on this stock.
It's not windshield wipers.
That's on the left stock.
But twist it forward for drive, backward for reverse,
push it for parking.
Into the back seat.
Now, first thing you may have noticed
is the sliding door here.
It's going to be optional to get sliding doors on both sides.
And it's also going to be optional to make
them power like this one.
But it's pretty cool.
Before we get in, one thing you should see
is that the rear seats slide fore and aft
pretty far, which is nice.
And the seatbacks will recline so
that you can find the perfect comfortable position
that you like.
Getting in is not bad at all.
It's a little bit of a step up, but no biggie.
And then with the seats all the way back,
I've got plenty of legroom and headroom.
This is a really nice comfortable space and position
to be taking long road trips.
And if you have one of these, you
had better be taking long road trips.
Coming around to the back, let's check out the cargo area.
As you can see, it's pretty impressive inside.
Basically, minivan-like, only without the third row of seats
at all.
And remember, there will be a longer third row
version, which could potentially have way more space.
There are also soft arm pads up here.
So you can definitely see how future versions will
be equipped for a third row.
Now, we don't have exact cargo dimensions at the moment.
But I'm very curious to see what they are because this
is a pretty big space.
Plus, those rear seats fold down flat to create even more.
Now, how big is it?
I don't know exactly.
But it fits this many Ryans.
So that's pretty good.
Oh, wait.
I brought something for this.
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So it would appear the answer is, yes, you
can turn the ID.Buzz into the roving surf adventure van
or ski chalet or overland mobile of your dreams.
I'm sure you're watching this right now coming up
with all kinds of crazy ideas.
So get creative and let us know in the comments
what you would turn the ID.Buzz into.
Or you can just drive it around as it is.
That works too.
Now, there's also a lot more to know about the ID.Buzz.
So make sure to click the link in the description below
to read my full article on it.
Now, as for us at Edmunds, we can't
wait to get our hands on a US production version.
So stay tuned for updates as we get closer to that.
Well, there is a lot going on inside this charming little
package, isn't there?
Today, we learned a lot about what
we can expect from the US production version that's
coming in a few years.
And I have to say, I'm feeling optimistic.
But in the next year or two, there
are a few questions that Volkswagen will need to answer,
like is the ID.Buzz really a fully-baked idea or a rush
to build goodwill in the EV community?
Also, does it hit the right nostalgia notes
with original Microbus fans?
And is the Electrify America network really ready for this?
And you know that as soon as we can
we'll put the ID.Buzz on our renowned Edmunds EV test loop
to see how its range matches up, as well as our full slate
of testing procedures.
Thanks for watching.
Don't forget to click like and subscribe.
And keep those van life dreams alive.
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