There aren’t many new van launches that have caused as much of a stir as the ID.Buzz. The latest addition to Volkswagen’s electric ‘ID’ line-up is a long-awaited reinterpretation of the T1 Transporter. A car with the same visual impact as the concept that unveiled on a Californian beach way back in 2017, now available at your local dealership.
It was bound to happen eventually. Volkswagen revived the Beetle way back in 1997, then again in 2011, but both had the compromise of stretching a rear-engine body shape over a front-engine platform borrowed from the Golf. By comparison, the ID.Buzz feels quite authentic; its toaster-like silhouette sits on a flat floor with an air-cooled motor at the rear wheels, just like the T1 Transporter, except this one runs on battery power.
Ditching the combustion engine is important. The ID.Buzz shares its EV-only platform with the ID.3 hatchback, so the battery is underneath the cabin between the axles and split into modules like a bar of chocolate, while the electric motor and its single-speed ‘gearbox’ are small enough to fit into a sports bag. With no bulky diesel engine up front, most of the 4.7-metre length is passenger space – for context, the five-seat MPV and Cargo van have the same wheelbase as
