Volkswagen ID. Buzz Road Test
Minivans, generally, aren’t very cool. The most utilitarian and arguably most practical form of family transport, minivans are generally painted in anonymous colors, often wear the marks of hard use in the form of dirt and grime, and usually blend into the background of our roads. Yet, here is a minivan that attracts more attention than most supercars, or even that most recent social media darling, the Tesla Cybertruck. It’s called the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, and it’s a sensation.
In one form or another, Volkswagen has been teasing the ID. Buzz for the best part of two decades. A succession of concept cars, with different kinds of powertrain technology have been displayed at auto shows around the world, with the promise that, at some point, we’d be able to buy a new bus. Now, it’s here, it’s fully electric, and it’s as delightful to look at and be in as we’ve all been hoping for.
VW Minivan: Retro-Futuristic Design
What’s great about the attention the Buzz attracts, unlike a supercar or a jacked-up off-roader, is that it’s all positive. Almost everyone has a Volkswagen story. Almost every memory that people have about VWs from their past, such as their parents owning a Beetle, road-tripping in a Westfalia, or as their first car, is positive. The Buzz makes everyone smile, and those curious enough to ask about it love the fact that it’s electric, combining a big dose of nostalgia with VW’s newest drivetrain and its most up-to-date technology.
Despite carrying strong visual hints of the original Volkswagen bus, from its available two-tone paint, to the V-shaped character lines at the front that give it a distinctive smile, to the little faux air vents at the rear, the ID. Buzz is a thoroughly modern design. It has LED headlights that “wake up” and almost wink at you when you walk towards it, aerodynamic disc wheels to improve efficiency, staggered wheel sizes, and flush-mounted glass. It’s also way bigger than the original bus, with a footprint similar to the biggest minivans you can currently buy, and a seating position as high as most SUVs, because the EV battery pack forms part of the floor.
Volkswagen ID. Buzz Interior
The Buzz is available in rear- or all-wheel drive forms, with six or seven seats, but if you want the seven-seat configuration, you can only get it with rear-wheel drive. My six-seat tester’s interior was enormous, with stretch-out space in all three rows. All of the seats are broad and comfortable, upholstered in an attractive synthetic perforated leather. The front seats are not only heated and cooled, but have a very nice massage function, helping to keep you comfortable on long drives.
The cargo area is similar in size to other minivans’, though the standard inclusion of a movable shelf means that usable space is basically doubled if you’re not carrying very tall items. Thanks to the shelf, you can essentially stack one set of grocery bags on top of another. There is also a handy storage bin that can hold your charging cables, and Volkswagen offers many useful accessories to increase the cargo area’s versatility.
Lots of glass brings lots of light into the cabin: the far-away windshield is huge, and there are triangular pieces in the A-pillars to help improve forward visibility. First Edition models have a gigantic glass sunroof which, while it doesn’t open, does have a variable tint so you can decide how much light to let in. Interestingly, the sliding doors have a big glass area but the section that opens is only a small square.
All that glass, the spacious interior, and the usable cargo area should make the ID. Buzz a fantastic road trip machine, and in some ways, that’s true. Its substantial weight, low center of gravity, and exceptionally long wheelbase, all a result of being designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle instead of being adapted from a gasoline one, mean the Buzz rides exceptionally well on all kinds of road surfaces, with little of the head toss you often experience in taller vehicles. It’s wonderfully quiet inside, very well isolated from wind and road noise.
ID. Buzz Range and Charging
The one fly in the ointment is the Buzz’s range, which isn’t great for this type of vehicle. On a full charge, the 86-kWh battery is capable of delivering 234 miles, or 231 miles for the all-wheel drive model, according to EPA estimates. In ideal conditions, and if you don’t do a lot of highway cruising, you can actually go further than that, but most road trips do involve long highway stretches, which means you’ll be stopping a lot.
Realistically, with family on board, you’ll be stopping before the Buzz’s juice runs out, just like you would in a gasoline minivan; the difference is that refueling, when you need to refuel, will take longer. A gasoline van can be filled up in a handful of minutes, while the Buzz, connected to a DC fast charger, will go from 10 to 80 percent in about half an hour with a maximum charging speed of 170 kw – far from class-leading. Plan your stops accordingly, to ensure the family has something to do while you fill it up.
When not road-tripping, of course, most ID. Buzz owners will charge at home on a Level 2 charger, and enjoy the convenience of a full tank of electrons every morning. Make full use of Volkswagen’s smartphone app, or the right screens in its on-board computer, and you can have it warmed or cooled to your desired temperature when you depart, with the seat heaters or coolers going.
Driving the ID. Buzz
The Buzz is, despite its size, quite easy to maneuver around the city in day-to-day driving. It has a very tight turning circle, with light, precise, and accurate steering. It’s a cinch to wheel around parking lots, when dropping off the kids at school or the sports arena, and through urban traffic. Thanks to all that glass, outward visibility is excellent, and there’s plenty of power to zip away from traffic lights.
Rear-wheel drive Buzzes have 282 hp, with all-wheel drive models jumping to 335 hp, enough to dash from 0-60 mph in under six seconds. I also found the “B” (for “braking”) setting for the transmission perfect for around-town use, providing enough regenerative action to drive around town using mostly one pedal, without feeling uncomfortable. On the freeway, regular “D” mode lets the Buzz freewheel, extending its range.
Being a latest-generation Volkswagen product, the ID. Buzz comes with a full complement of driver assists. There’s active cruise control, which can maintain a safe distance from the car ahead. There’s lane keeping assist, which keeps you centered in your lane, reducing stress on long drives. There’s automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring, as well as some EV-specific technology like a function to pre-condition the battery so that it can accept a charge faster when you arrive at a charging station.
All these systems are controlled through a big and fast-responding touchscreen, which is a huge improvement over what was in earlier Volkswagen EVs. The temperature and audio controls are illuminated now, you get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android auto, as well as a handy wireless charging pocket in the dash for your cell phone. A small digital instrument cluster is complemented by a large and very sharp head-up display. Like the way the Buzz drives, the tech is easy, smooth, and unobtrusive.
ID. Buzz: It's Impossible Not to Love
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a vehicle that is really hard to judge objectively. Look solely at its on-paper statistics, and it would be a hard vehicle to justify. The starting MSRP of $61,545 is high for what you get, both compared to other minivans, including some very efficient plug-in hybrid ones, as well as other three-row EVs. Family-friendly SUVs like the Kia EV9 and upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 9, offer far more range and charging speed for thousands of dollars less, but without sliding doors or the ID. Buzz’s tall cabin.
But, much like the New Beetle which Volkswagen brought to market in the early 2000s alongside mechanically-similar and more rationally-packaged relatives like the Golf and Jetta, the Buzz defies logic. While its shape makes it by default a practical package for hauling families and their gear, this electric minivan is all about the desire that its gorgeous design evokes, the memories it triggers, and the joy that it brings not just to the driver and passengers, but to everyone who sees it.
Its high price and limited availability mean that the ID. Buzz isn’t a vehicle that has to sell in huge volumes. If it gets a few thousand families out of big SUVs and into minivans, or even if it simply brings more people into Volkswagen showrooms who can subsequently drive away in a less-expensive ID.4 or one of the brand’s other, more affordable models, the Buzz will have more than succeeded in doing its job.
