Electric time machine: VW ID Buzz concept gets production green light

Volkswagen created the ID Buzz concept to show off just how many different body styles could be adapted to its new electric platform. The platform was already confirmed for production, but now, the ID Buzz's body is, too.

Volkswagen chairman Herbert Diess told AutoExpress that the ID Buzz will join the original ID concept as a production model within the next decade. "Emotional cars are very important for the brand," Diess told AutoExpress. "We are selling loads of Beetles still, particularly in US markets. But we will also have the Microbus that we showed, which we have recently decided we will build."

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The ID Buzz concept debuted at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. Packing a style very close to the T1 and T2 Microbus models of yore, the ID Buzz took VW's multi-purpose electric-vehicle platform and dropped a big ol' body on top of it. With three rows of seating and visibility for days, the ID Buzz will make it hard to recommend minivans once it comes to market.

Underneath that bulky body lies Volkswagen's MEB platform, which will underpin a number of new electric vehicles over the next decade. With the ID Buzz body bolted on, Volkswagen estimated in Detroit that the ID Buzz would be capable of 270 miles by American EV-range measurements. With an electric motor at each axle, it packs an estimated 369 horsepower, with 60 mph arriving in about 5.0 seconds.

Of course, costs aren't taken very seriously with concepts, so in all likelihood, most of those figures will change when the ID Buzz comes to production. A dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup is likely, but a family van doesn't really need 369 horsepower, especially if reducing that performance can improve its range. The crazy iPad-style sliding infotainment screen and collapsible steering wheel will probably be swapped out for more traditional parts, as well.

If its range is anywhere near the original estimate, though, it would beat the current low-cost mileage champion Chevrolet Bolt EV and its 238-mile range.

Looking at the Volkswagen ID Buzz concept never gets old

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