The electric ID. Buzz five-seater and ID. Buzz Cargo three-seat van have their world premiere on March 9 with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles doing final prototype trials.
The pre-production fleet is touring Europe on the final test runs under everyday conditions between Barcelona, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Hannover.
“Before we start full production of the ID. Buzz, these final trials with vehicles practically matching the ultimate full-production specification provide us with indispensable input for the final fine-tuning,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles vehicle development head Kai Grünitz says.
Based on the Volkswagen Group’s modular electric drive kit (MEB), both ID. Buzz versions are launching this year with a high-voltage lithium-ion battery providing gross energy content of 82kWh (net 77kWh), the battery supplying a 150kW electric motor integrated in the rear axle.
Official range figures aren’t yet available, although the ID. Buzz has an electronically limited 145km/h top speed, 310Nm torque, a very low centre of gravity, an a just over 11 metre turning circle..
Intelligent ‘Plug & Charge’ will make charging cards superfluous henceforth at many quick-charging stations, and bidirectional charging is included.
The design appears to differ little from the ID. Buzz concept which featured at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2017.
During the coming year, a model with a longer wheelbase and a correspondingly broader range of possibilities in the interior will be added to the range.
Versions of the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo with the standard wheelbase (2.988m) launching this year are just 4.712m long. By comparison, the wheelbase of the new ID. Buzz is only two millimetres different to that of the T6.1, which is 4.904m long.
The ID. Buzz thus offers a similar internal length but is able to use smaller parking spaces. The bus, fitted with glass all round, is 1.937m high and the van is 1.938m due to slight differences in the chassis (T6.1: 1.970m).
The two ID. Buzz vehicles are 1.985m wide (excluding wing mirrors); so the new model is 81mm wider than the T6.1. With rims in the sizes 18 to 21-inches, the new model line runs on big wheels (750mm diameter).
There’s plenty of space for people, luggage and work gear.
The five-seater ID. Buzz takes up to 1121 litres of luggage even with all seats occupied, while the maximum load capacity of the ID. Buzz Cargo, fitted with a partition wall, exceeds 3.9m3.
Over-the-air updates and innovative assist systems will be provided, including the new ‘Trained Parking’ function (automatic manoeuvring into and out of parking spaces), ‘Car2X’ (warnings and hazard alerts in the local vicinity) and the latest version of ‘Travel Assist’ featuring utilisation of crowdsourced data; the system facilitating forward and lateral guidance on a partly automated basis across the full speed range.
Production of the ID. Buzz starts in the first half of this year, the European launch following in September and it’s also set to be marketed in the USA.
