The reality at the wheel of the Volkswagen electric combi (ID Buzz test)

Thought to one day be able to equip yourself with 100 % autonomous driving technologies, the new ID Buzz takes up today the mode of Semi-autonomous driving Travel Assist, with its set of active safety features present in the Volkswagen electric range. We always note the presence of the mode to keeping in the path that comes to be supported by assistance to the change of track that can be operated via the indicator. Park Assist mode is also part with its memory function to record 5 parking lots. These equipment is only available as a option that said.

Volkswagen ID.Buzz California, the electric combi adorned for Vanlife but not before 2025

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The reality at the wheel of the Volkswagen electric combi (ID Buzz test)

The Volkswagen ID Buzz will be sold on November 21. With him, the rebirth of the combi, in electric, one day able to become independent. One buys ?

Posted on November 14, 2022 at 10 h 18 min

The Volkswagen Combi is one of those “rolling legends”, this indestructible tank, a reflection of an era of carelessness. After 63 years of production, he trusted in 2013. Its coast has increased a lot since then, even becoming, for certain surfers and certain followers of the Hippie current, a road partner at gold prices.

Almost ten years after his abandonment, Volkswagen has decided to renew the myth with A new model that is now called Id Buzz. A will that the brand had long said (not surprising, with a view to the popularity of the car), but to which “We had to wait for the arrival of the MEB platform”, explained one of the chiefs produced.

Behind this acronym, the modular platform of the 100 % electric range of Volkswagen. Consisting of ID3, ID4 and ID5, it opens today to another segment, which is similar to that of vans or minivans (we will come back later in this essay). Stretched at its maximum, the chassis therefore suggests that the combi replacement will be 100 % electric. And this is indeed the case.

It was even the condition sine qua non At the output of the model. Id Buzz draws its lines from those of the famous van of the 60s, but is nonetheless in its time, with batteries under the floor, USB-C ports everywhere, and a cabin identical to that of the rest of The electric range. What should we know more ? Let’s go together on this ID buzz to discover more about it.

Volkswagen Id Buzz: Van or Monospace ?

To draw its lines, the new ID buzz had to be electric. The explanation is due to the arrangement of mechanics. The engine placed on the rear axle released from the front to the front. Caittered to electric models, the steering wheels turn more and the absence of a radiator, essential on a thermal car, allowed the designers of the new electric combi to offer a very vertical front.

This results in this very cubic template, but with round lines, which during our test demonstrated a particularly important sympathy capital. Everyone turns on the new ID buzz. The success is there. Many thanked Volkswagen for having managed to remain faithful to the concept because original of 2017, and managed to pay tribute to the lines of the Combi T1 and T2 of the time.

But then is it a van or a minivan ? Originally, the T1 was launched as a van. Even today, the new ID buzz looks like its design and its proportions to a small van. Take it to specify that a vehicle’s utility version is also available for professionals. The new electric combi makes 4.7 meters long, Which is not particularly big either, but still 2.2 meters wide, And 1.9 meters high (beware the head in the underground parking lots).

The cabin gives us a little more details on the raison d’être of the ID Buzz and its uses. Unsurprisingly, we find most of the parts shared with the ID3, ID4 and ID5. For its price, we can ask questions. But Volkswagen still arrives with a wooden imitation piece particularly well done on the dashboard to forget the rest in hard plastic. Few storage is available in the end, while the cabin is particularly thought of so to be more functional than comfortable.

So we are not aboard a opulent and enveloping SUV, but rather in a minivan. The space is substantial. It is possible to choose a configuration with three places in the forefront. Visibility is excellent, to drive as if to admire the landscape, even if Volkswagen could not offer a glazed roof sky on its model (where it would have been the most relevant to find it on a vehicle). Small downside on the other hand on the side of the feedback, we would have liked a little bigger mirrors. Besides, the rear view camera is optional … The trunk, at least, offers 1,121 liters. It opens to more than 2,200 liters once the rear seats have folded down (but do not intend to be able to remove them).

We will greatly appreciate the location of the sockets in USB-C, in each door. In total, there are 8 in addition to the other taken. If you are used to using your smartphone for navigation, that said, you will not be able to take advantage of the wireless recharge positioned in a small storage slot located to the right of the steering wheel. Now Volkswagen has had the intelligence to add a power outlet to the compartment for the internal mirror, so that you can connect a Dash Cam.

The equipment on the dashboard does not differ from other models in the Volkswagen electric range. We then find the same infotainment screen, with its particularly precise navigation system. Rather than a head -up vision system, Volkswagen opts for a small handset placed behind the steering wheel with the most important information for driving. This minimalist bias, from an ergonomics point of view, is excellent.

The brake of autonomy

Volkswagen has equipped the new Buzz ID of the system brand’s most powerful battery, namely 77 kWh. It is not the most powerful module in the group, but only Audi reserves the use of the 95 kWh block signed LG Chem (86.5 kWh exploited). Maybe it didn’t take more after all, while the car is already 2.5 tonnes. But as you will be able to see with our estimates, breaks will be frequent During trips aboard the Volkswagen Id Buzz.

The new electric combi actually has limited autonomy, which could prove to be a brake for customers seeking to be able to drive at least 400 kilometers. During our test, we found that it was possible to perform around 350 kilometers On a highway only – and with more than mild weather. You will have to stay in town to get the 400 kilometers. And in winter, it will certainly be necessary to count on a maximum autonomy of only 350 kilometers.

Quick recharge admits a maximum power of 170 kW. At this power, it will be possible to recover 200 kilometers in the space of 10 minutes. And it will require 30 minutes to go from 5 to 80 % load. The Volkswagen ID Buzz does better than the rest of the Volkswagen electric range, while the ID5 is limited to 135 kW (150 kW in GTX version). Otherwise, on an AC socket of 11 kW, it will take 7:30 am to recharge the entire ID Buzz, from 0 to 100%.

Thought to one day be able to equip yourself with 100 % autonomous driving technologies, the new ID Buzz takes up today the mode of Semi-autonomous driving Travel Assist, with its set of active safety features present in the Volkswagen electric range. We always note the presence of the mode to keeping in the path that comes to be supported by assistance to the change of track that can be operated via the indicator. Park Assist mode is also part with its memory function to record 5 parking lots. These equipment is only available as a option that said.

On the road in electric combi: the surprise

To dream like a van, to live like a minivan … The new ID buzz is to drive like a sedan. He shares the driving approvals for electric cars in general, where in view of his size and his weight, things could have been much more complicated.

The roll is almost nonexistent, the car behaves particularly well in a curve thanks to its center of low gravity. Management is a good compromise between precision and comfort. Braking, once you familiarize yourself with the regenerative mode of batteries, is powerful enough. All this would be nothing without the robbery, only 11 meters of radius, which is similar to that of a compact sedan. Honorable.

The reminders are very good up to 80 km/h with the combining block The equivalent of 204 horsepower. The car is not a war lightning, will not surprise its passengers or are driver with radars, but is more than enough to fit in traffic and take hilly roads. Like what, this same engine that equips the ID5 and the Audi Q4 e-tron in particular is particularly effective, whatever the size.

On the passenger side, especially in the back, the feeling of being in a sedan takes precedence over that of being in a minivan. The seats are practically at the same level as at the front and you can have a little trouble seeing the road. But the wide windows make us forget everything. It is so pleasant to follow the landscape as well, rather than through narrow windows, whose design of the SUVs is used to coming to graze from the surface (to enhance the design and make the most dynamic).

The car is surprisingly well insulated, despite its 21 -inch wheels (on our test model) and the imposing glass surface. With this raised cabin, we imagine ourselves in a “real” high suivs on legs. The driving position is good, but the foundations are not necessarily very enveloping and the breaks during a long trip will be necessary to stretch. We would have liked a little more maintenance and especially soft on the seats. Besides, the damping is quite firm and the roughness of the road are not really erased.

Our opinion on the Volkwagen Id Buzz trial

Our opinion on the Volkswagen Id Buzz would be quite different if the electric combi had found Enough to hold more than 400 kilometers, Take care of certain parts in the passenger compartment and offer more storage spaces. Pleasant to drive, with undeniable sympathy capital, The new electric combi is more looking for in the passenger compartment. Refined, it is not functional and we might have liked to find a storage space in the roof sky for example. In premium drawing, its materials indicate. Tablets at the rear look particularly fragile, as is the front storage hatch, under the central console.

For music, not enough to satisfy music lovers either. The Volkswagen Id Buzz is great and despite its soundproofing, the sound system does not follow, despite its 9 speakers. We will continue to greet the ingenuity of the placement of the sockets to recharge its devices, and the multiple possibilities to adjust the space as it pleases (two or three seats at the front). That said, If you want 7 places, Volkswagen counts on you to be patient. Same thing for versions equipped like a van, to be able to put a bed there and all the possible storage. The calendar provides nothing before 2024.

At a time when electricity is not yet an effective solution to venture far, and fast charging stations are still too much limited to the main axes, Choosing to launch an electric van is a real bet. To expand its audience, the ID Buzz did well to go to rattle on the side of the minivan market. The family segment, left aside in recent years for the benefit of SUVs, succeeded in Volkswagen who manages to offer a car with a nice look.

Volkswagen Id Buzz prices

With the arrival of the electric, the minivans are more skillful, more stylish. But the price impact is substantial. For a family vehicle or to live the van life, Do not count No less than 55,990 euros, Bonus added. The new Volkswagen ID Buzz will be marketed on November 21 from 56,990 euros including tax. A single version is available, that with its 204 horsepower, its 77 kW battery, in 5 -seater version. Additional equipment is found in the options catalog.

If a lot of standard equipment is available as standard, most Elements that make the buzz ID are only accessible as an option. To choose one of the two -color bodywork specific to the model, such as Laurier green, the Energetic Orange, the Lime Yellow or the Starlight Blue, you will have to pay 1,790 euros more. Travel Assist and Park Assist are also expensive options, more than 2,170 euros.

Finally, for recharging, Volkswagen always offers customers to subscribe to their We charging card, at 12.99 euros per month. This allows you to benefit from preferential rates on the Ionity network in particular. Each kWh is invoiced 0.35 euros instead of the 0.79 euro that it costs for the non-bodies. A 12 -month commitment is necessary to subscribe to it.