Camper. Bulli. Hippie van. That Volkswagen’s second- most-recognisable vehicle, the Type 2 of 1950-1975, has been known by so many names in so many different places around the world is evidence of just how widely and well loved it was and of the many purposes that it served.
But the nickname that’s most relevant to us now is another one again: Microbus, or just Bus for short. That’s the one to which Volkswagen now refers with the rather cutesy handle of its much-anticipated, all-electric modern successor for the celebrated Type 2: the ID Buzz.
The finished version is slightly less cutesy to look at than it has been in concept form, however, or that the memory of the Type 2 might make you expect. There are reasons for that, some of which you will probably predict and others we will explain as we go. It’s still great looking, though, and really distinctive for a monocab.
Volkswagen has somehow resisted the temptation to make the van’s mandatory electronic low-speed pedestrian safety noise something akin to a low-flying bumblebee, which goes down as a missed opportunity in my book. Even so, it’s surprisingly agreeable to drive, too.
The ID Buzz concept caused what its maker calls a “sensational response” when it was first shown back in 2017, but that wasn’t the first time that we had been promised a new Type 2. There were not-dissimilar show cars in the 2010s and the Microbus concept of 2001, which caused as great a stir as any of the others. This ‘car’ has certainly been coming a while, then, but finally it’s (nearly) here.
The fourth of Volkswagen’s ID-branded electric vehicles, it will go into production in the German city of Hanover this summer and start appearing in the UK and in European markets in the autumn, before enjoying what’s expected to be a particularly warm reception in North America in 2023.
What makes it different from other electric vans or monocab utility cars is that it has been designed from clean sheet as an EV, not adapted from an ICE one. It’s based on Volkswagen’s very clever MEB platform, showing just how versatile that architecture is. And so it has coil suspension, a very car-like wheel-at-each-corner stance and a surprisingly tight turning circle.
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I want to love it but the overly stern face is a big turnoff. The original's happy wide eyed expression is one of the many reaosnes it was so enderaing. Everything is serious or angry nowadays, et tu, Fiat 500e
£50K is too much for sort of van. It won't sell well and it will be interesting to see the used price say in 5 years time after the used market is back to normal after the chip shortage.
I applaud the idea, but it's just a pipe dream for the majority of us at the expected asking price. Also the range could still be an issue, at 250 miles for the best case scenario, if you really what to do some serious miles in a short time. At least the range is better than the now electric only Berlingo/Rifter which is hopeless for what I would need.
Check out the Canoo Lifestyle, which is a little smaller and theoretically cheaper at a starting price of $35,000, but as Canoo are just a new start up company it will probably never be made in volume or make it over to Europe.