Volkswagen’s heritage-soaked ID.Buzz concept is well on its way to production. Presented at the 2017 Detroit show, the EV is being developed with our market in mind, and a new report sheds light on what the lineup will look like.
Citing comments made by Carsten Intra, the head of Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles division, Car & Driver reported the production version of the ID.Buzz concept (whose name hasn’t been decided yet) will begin arriving in American showrooms from a factory in Hannover, Germany, in 2023, so about a year after it goes on sale in Europe. Sales will start for the 2024 model year, meaning deliveries will likely start about halfway through 2023.
Intra also shared details about how the range will be structured. While buyers in Europe will have people- and cargo-carrying variants to choose from, motorists in the United States will only have access to the former. It’s unclear if the Chicken Tax that came into effect in 1964 and places a 25% tariff on imported light trucks is to blame. If so, history will repeat itself: The tax kept commercial versions of the Type 2 away from American shores.
Short- and long-wheelbase models will be offered globally, but our market will not receive the former. Intra’s comments suggest that only the more upscale vans will be sold here. Volkswagen will build the Buzz on the modular MEB platform found under the ID.3 and the ID.4, among other EVs, and power for the entry-level model will come from a rear-mounted electric motor rated at about 200 horsepower. More expensive trim levels will receive a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain that will put about 300 horsepower under the driver’s right foot.
Drivers will need to keep their right foot on the pedal, because the same report notes the autonomous Buzz won’t be sold in the United States, either. It’s not scheduled to enter production until much later in the model’s lifecycle.
Additional details, like range and pricing, won’t be released until closer to the Buzz’s unveiling in 2022. We’re also waiting to find out what changes Volkswagen’s design team has made to the van since we first saw it in 2017. We’ve spotted early test mules in Europe, but they’re hidden under a heavily modified sixth-generation Transporter body.
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