62 YEARS OLD AND STILL TIMELESS
The funkiest box on wheels ever penned?
FLEXIBLE INTERIOR
Whatever form a Microbus or Transporter took when it left the factory, it would continually evolve to suit the needs of subsequent owners. Seats, beds, dainty curtains, racks for surfboards or bikes… if you can imagine it, someone has done it. For the new ID. Buzz, VW has started modestly, offering a fiveseat passenger version and the three-seat Cargo. But a longer wheelbase will follow, along with seven-seat and camping versions. And then the independents will wade in with ice cream vans, hearses and the rest.
MINIMAL MECHANICALS
The early Microbus and Transporter had Beetle engines at the back, 912-style, and rear-wheel drive. When the family evolved in 1990 to have front engines, Transit-style, the grooviness quotient dropped by about 600 per cent. The Buzz gets back to basics, in an electric kind of way: battery under the floor, single electric motor on the rear axle, single-speed transmission, rear-wheel drive. Buzz has relatively sophisticated independent suspension all round.
SLIDING SIDE DOORS
There are practical reasons for having sliding side doors – they mean you can load and unload in confined areas – but they are also part of the timeless design, the runners forming a horizontal line that lends itself to different colour paint on the lower and upper portions. Similarly, the stumpy front and rear overhangs help with a tight turning circle but also play a big part in the look, then and now.
IT’S MOSTLY AIR
With the bulk of the oily bits confined to the nose, tail and corners, the centre of the vehicle is a blank canvas. Weight distribution tends to be pretty even, front to rear, and the centre of gravity pretty low, whether the load is your family or a couple of pallets of breeze blocks.
FLATTENING YOUR RIGHT FOOT AT THE LIGHTS DOES NOT HAVE THAT TYPICAL EV KICK-INTHE-BUTT EFFECT
If you’re coming from a car, some adjustment may be required, as the ID. Buzz drives like a car-truck hybrid. The seats are high, and close to the front of the vehicle in a manner not even many vans replicate these days. And you can never quite forget that substantial kerbweight. Flattening your right foot at the lights does not have the typical EV kick-in-the-butt effect. That said, the instantly available maximum torque is a fairly generous 229lb ft, and by our stopwatch the 0-62mph acceleration time is 9.8sec – that’s about 1.5sec slower than the ID.4 and roughly on a par with a top-spec 201bhp T6.1 with 332lb ft.
So, in van/van-based MPV terms, the Buzz is pretty much on the money, and with a top speed electronically limited to 90mph there is at least less of a chance you’ll find them hounding you in the outside lane of the M1. Not surprisingly, the 201bhp motor mated to a single-speed transmission fails to add a new chapter to The Great Electric Performance Revolution, but it does an okay job in predominantly urban driving with none of the variability of response you sometimes get with DSG-equipped machinery. Next year, VW will offer a smaller 52kWh battery for around 190 miles of range and a bigger 111kWh unit, which should be good for around 375 miles. And then there’s the prospect of an all-wheel-drive, twin-motor GTX edition rated at 295bhp (and an unchanged 229lb ft), which should belay any feelings of inadequacy you have about the available standing-start motivation.
This ID. Buzz is in the 77kWh (net) launch spec, and demonstrates a couple of upsides to the hefty weight. Most obvious is the tarmac-hugging centre of gravity that comes hand in hand with the heavy underfloor battery. In combination with the long 2988mm wheelbase and the independent suspension all-round, the ID. Buzz gives decent ride over long undulations, uneven patchwork surfaces, and railway level crossings.
However, when shod with 235/45 R21 rubber up front and even wider 255/40 R21 rear footwear, the well-balanced overall compliance is repeatedly crushed by the tyres’ stiff sidewalls, the rigid high-speed rubber compound and the Yeti-spec footprint. Adjustable shock absorbers are an option the test car was not fitted with; the same goes for the so-called progressive steering and the almost indispensable heat pump.
Other worthwhile extras include adaptive matrix LED headlights (fixed full-LEDs are standard), Travel Assist with ‘swarm data’, and Park Assist with memory function. The latter remembers favourite parking spots and does its own multi-turn manoeuvring, even if this means squeezing at an angle into tight spots or backing out of long, narrow and curvy access paths.
Meanwhile, the swarm data add-on to Travel Assist means the Buzz observes the behaviour of the cars around it to decide if travelling in the centre of a lane is actually a good idea. The example given was for a street with a tram track: you might want to straddle those tracks rather than run along them. Car-to-infrastructure capability is another increasingly inevitable part of the available tech package, while the ID. Buzz is also the guinea-pig vehicle for VW’s truly autonomous car-sharing service being developed in conjunction with Argo AI.
The driving range between recharging stops for the 77kWh variant is said to be in the area of 250 miles WLTP, although no fully ratified range or efficiency figures are yet officially available. The extra weight and the larger frontal area will
inevitably take their toll, compared with other cars. During our test drive, we were clocking up 2.6 miles per kWh, which isn’t brilliant in view of the recorded average speed of 38.1mph. At an average charge speed of 125kW, it takes almost 40 minutes to restore the state of charge from five to 80 per cent… Make that a large cappuccino and treat yourself to a second doughnut.
The steering feels light but never vague, direct but not nervous, and it describes an extra-tight turning radius of around 11 metres, which is exceptional for a 4712mm MPV. The brakes – discs at one end, drums (drums!) at the other – are keen on restoring energy, providing instant feedback and indulging in effortless repeat action. Unlike other previously driven IDs, this one decelerates progressively to a full stop without a noteworthy increase in pedal pressure. The more energetic of two brake-regen modes is calibrated to give that one-pedal feel some love and others hate, though we’d like the effect to be more pronounced. On the whole, though, this is a very polished driving experience.
This near-finished version has lost some of the details from the concept we drove in San Francisco in 2017; the roll-down windows are no longer flush-fitting, for instance, and the steering wheel is now conventional. And the ergonomic chaos pioneered by the ID.3 and ID.4 was unfortunately passed on like a haptic virus to the ID. Buzz. You still start the motor by pushing a button, but the gear selector which grows out of the steering column like a charcoal plastic petal works to a modified yet no more intuitive pattern. The distant 12.0-inch touchscreen and the cursed touch sliders arranged below it still force you to play index-finger bingo. Voice control is a useful option except that all safety-related commands are off-limits. Which is an understandable irony, if also still a potential source of frustration. It remains incredible that VW has managed to get this infotainment so apparently wrong. At least owners claim you get used to it.
Packaging and functionality are spot-on. It’s hard not to appreciate the roomy, bright and well-thought-out cabin. The optional massage seats are first-class comfy, leg- and headroom is abundant and the split rear bench tilts flat and is easily adjustable. Folding the rear chairs creates a wide, level and carpeted loading (or sleeping) area, aided by an additional underfloor storage cubicle. It’s a pragmatic arrangement, solid, rattle-free, properly trimmed and a breeze to use. There are some cute details, too, such as the little van graphic on the seat sides. But it does without the full-cabin rail system of the Multivan and Caravelle, which means mixing and matching seat layouts is off the agenda.
VW’s latest expression of retro-futurism is very encouraging. Especially for those already dreaming of taking leisure-orientated versions of the Buzz on life-affirming camping trips into the natural world, cleanly and quietly. And with a fair bit of VW cool.
THE ERGONOMIC CHAOS PIONEERED BY THE ID.3 AND ID.4 HAS BEEN PASSED ON