It’s becoming a bit of a tradition at major Volkswagen media presentations for the company to finish up presenting its big new thing by giving a quick glimpse of the next big new thing.
So when the wraps came off the VW ID.5 GTX Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) recently, the German maker ended video proceedings by throwing up a quick flash of a near-production version of the ID.Buzz.
Oh, that. The electric Kombi. Thought VW had forgotten about it? Us too. It was first shown as a concept way back in 2017. But it looks like it’ll happen for Europe next year and other markets from 2024.
Look past the comedy paintjob and it’s clear this is pretty close to the finished product. A lot of the fussy detailing has gone; it has traditional door mirrors and proper door handles. Compare the latest version above with the concept below.
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Such is the aura of nostalgia surrounding older Kombis (which is the only reason the ID.Buzz looks like that), it’ll no doubt be launched as more of a lifestyle/bus/campervan type of thing, at a premium price. We’d be totally up for an ID.Buzz California.
But it will also ultimately be turned into a proper commercial vehicle; so it’s all working the opposite way around to the original T1.
A zero-emissions van with a flat floor makes the ideal delivery vehicle of course, and given that ID.Buzz will based on VW’s latest BEV architecture, it could also become that fully autonomous courier vehicle we’ve been waiting for.