Volkswagen ID. Buzz: the mythical combi revived! – Challenges

For more than twenty years, Volkswagen has been dangling the return of the Combi, one of its true historical icons. Probably driven by the enthusiasm around its still recent New Beetle at the time, the Wolfsburg manufacturer had split, at the Detroit Motor Show in 2001, the Microbus concept car, a modern reinterpretation of the famous family derivative of the Beetle. , so popular with hippies. Regularly, the rumor gave hope of a reincarnation, supported from time to time by a study of style. Even the designers of the utility range have indulged in nostalgia, inventing two-tone liveries for the Multivan with its rigorously square lines.

It is finally the birth of the MEB electric platform (for Modulärer Elektrobaukasten) which uninhibited Volkswagen. Modular as its name suggests, this architecture can accommodate all types of bodywork, from the compact ID.3 which inaugurated it, to the future ID.7 sedan, rival of the Tesla Model 3. And among the styles offered, the ID. Buzz is not the least spectacular. This model finally dares to wink at the 1960s which has so far been refused to the Multivan, too formal not to offend the VIPs it is used to transporting. By dispensing with a combustion engine, the ID. Buzz ignores aesthetic conventions and it couldn’t be more successful. The chubby front face makes the heads unscrew. At each stop, it’s the attraction: this minivan loves passers-by as surely as a supercar, the sympathy in addition. Especially if you choose one of the four two-tone liveries offered.

Five seats only on board the ID. Buzz

On closer inspection, however, it seems that aesthetics has sometimes taken over practical aspects. First there are the dimensions: with a length of 4.70 m, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is halfway between a Touran (4.53m) and a Multivan (4.97m). However, there is currently no version with more than five seats. And if the length remains quite compact for a model of this type, what about the other dimensions, especially the height. Peaking at 1.93 m, the ID. Buzz prohibits access to most underground car parks. That is problematic.

For more than twenty years, Volkswagen has been dangling the return of the Combi, one of its true historical icons. Probably driven by the enthusiasm around its still recent New Beetle at the time, the Wolfsburg manufacturer had split, at the Detroit Motor Show in 2001, the Microbus concept car, a modern reinterpretation of the famous family derivative of the Beetle. , so popular with hippies. Regularly, the rumor gave hope of a reincarnation, supported from time to time by a study of style. Even the designers of the utility range have indulged in nostalgia, inventing two-tone liveries for the Multivan with its rigorously square lines.

It is finally the birth of the MEB electric platform (for Modulärer Elektrobaukasten) which uninhibited Volkswagen. Modular as its name suggests, this architecture can accommodate all types of bodywork, from the compact ID.3 which inaugurated it, to the future ID.7 sedan, rival of the Tesla Model 3. And among the styles offered, the ID. Buzz is not the least spectacular. This model finally dares to wink at the 1960s which has so far been refused to the Multivan, too formal not to offend the VIPs it is used to transporting. By dispensing with a combustion engine, the ID. Buzz ignores aesthetic conventions and it couldn’t be more successful. The chubby front face makes the heads unscrew. At each stop, it’s the attraction: this minivan loves passers-by as surely as a supercar, the sympathy in addition. Especially if you choose one of the four two-tone liveries offered.

Five seats only on board the ID. Buzz

On closer inspection, however, it seems that aesthetics has sometimes taken over practical aspects. First there are the dimensions: with a length of 4.70 m, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is halfway between a Touran (4.53m) and a Multivan (4.97m). However, there is currently no version with more than five seats. And if the length remains quite compact for a model of this type, what about the other dimensions, especially the height. Peaking at 1.93 m, the ID. Buzz prohibits access to most underground car parks. That is problematic.

Also, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz does not have no individual rear seats. You have to make do with a sliding bench seat in two parts, certainly removable, but the largest part of which cannot be removed by a single person. We have known better thought out modularity, but the seats are comfortable and there are plenty of storage spaces and USB sockets. The ergonomics are correct, despite some slowness of the screen at startup and, above all, certain menus represented by drawings, very pretty, but poorly organized.

A new battery for the Volkswagen ID. Buzz

At launch, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is only offered in a single technical configuration, combining an 82 kWh battery (Volkswagen announces a useful capacity of 77 kWh but we measured better, 80 kWh, with our technical partner Moba), to a 204 hp electric motor. This looks like, on paper, what we know about other Group models, starting with the Volkswagen ID.4, ID.5 and Skoda Enyaq. But the reality is much more complex. Indeed, from one version to another, the suppliers of the 82 kWh battery change. On the two-wheel-drive SUVs of the MEB platform, this is supplied by the Chinese CATL, while the four-wheel-drive models (one motor per axle) are supplied by LG Chem. The ID. Buzz takes advantage of a third type of battery (with a capacity equivalent to the other two), provided by the Korean SK On. Note that this one is made up of NCM 811 cells (10% cobalt in the cathode), unlike its sisters with NCM 712 (20% cobalt).

During a charging test on an Ionity terminal, we were able to see that the ID. Buzz had dialed the right number with his drum choice. Already, it is one of the first models of the brand to take advantage of the plug & charge functionality: provided you have registered your bank details beforehand, the charge starts alone when you plug in the vehicle. Above all, the SK On battery allows a extremely fast charging: the raised peak of 187kW is the best seen on the MEB platform (respectively 180 kW and 145 kW on the LG Chem and CATL). If the drop in power is a little more marked than on the CATL, we still go from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes (34 minutes with the LG Chem and 27 minutes with the CATL). Finally, it only takes 15 minutes to go from 80% to 100%. It is an excellent result.

One could fear high consumption with the ID. Buzz, high profile. If this descendant of the Combi actually brews a lot of air, the result is not so catastrophic. We recorded an average of 22.1 kWh/100 km on the road and 31.3 kWh/100 km on the motorway, a far cry from the indecent excesses of a Peugeot e-Traveller. This allows a autonomy still respectable of 360 km and 255 km respectively, without margin. A battery version of 111 kWh should land in the coming months, further improving the radius of action.

Driving pleasure above the rest

Quite convincing in terms of versatility, this Volkswagen ID. Buzz seduces with its driving pleasure. In town, it stands out for its softness and amazing maneuverability: the absence of a front engine allows a large steering angle, and therefore maneuvers in fairly tight spaces. Of course, you should not expect brilliant performance from this model, which weighs 2,407 kg on the scale. The 0 to 100 km/h is announced in 10.2 seconds, we measured a recovery from 80 to 120 km/h in 7.6 seconds and the top speed is limited to 145 km/h (150 km/h counter )… That’s less than on the ID.4 SUV, despite an identical axle gear ratio between the two models, of 12.978.

Let’s not forget that the ID. Buzz wants to be the reincarnation of a model that is a true icon of cool. So more than explosive accelerations, we prefer to find silence and comfort. Despite the 21-inch wheels of our test model and the absence of piloted suspension (even as an option), the irregularities of the bitumen appear very correctly filtered. Similarly, the body rigidity is sufficient, so that there is no resonance effect at the rear of the bodywork on a degraded surface. We didn’t expect so much, because the Multivan doesn’t do as well! Finally, the road behavior is reassuring, gently understeering at the limit and reasonably efficient.

It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about testing this Volkswagen ID. buzz. Volkswagen has really succeeded in reviving its legendary model. The look is cute, the services are there. Above all, the German giant is once again proving that it is preparing to regularly improve the performance of its electric models, with the appearance of the new SK On battery, with very fast recharging. It remains to develop the range quickly, to offer more variants with, above all, configurations offering more than five seats.

The only real congenital defect of the Volkswagen ID. Buzz seems to be the height greater than 1.90 m, and a high fare. But, in absolute terms, the €56,990 excluding options are still more reasonable than the €69,950 claimed for an equivalent Peugeot e-Traveler (Allure 75 kWh). Especially since those who want a retro look on Stellantis electric vans will have to turn to the version Citroën, dressed by the Italian craftsman Caselani to disguise it as an evocation of the Type H. And there, he has more than 80,000 €.