Volkswagen on Wednesday teased a prototype model of its ID.Buzz—the all-electric revival of the basic Microbus—which the automaker plans to completely reveal in 2022.
The camouflaged ID.Buzz prototype was proven briefly by Klaus Zellmer, VW board member for international gross sales, in the course of the livestream of the VW ID.5 crossover reveal. Zellmer did not have a lot to say concerning the ID.Buzz, solely noting that there is extra to come back on the retro electrical van subsequent yr.
The camouflage sample very carefully follows the scheme used on the ID.5 and associated ID.4 prototypes. The manufacturing variations of these fashions diversified little from the camouflaged prototypes, so that is probably a very good indication of what the manufacturing ID.Buzz will appear like.
VW ID.Buzz teaser from Klaus Zellmer, VW gross sales and advertising chief
The ID.Buzz is due in the USA in 2023, after a protracted tease that does again to the well-received January 2017 idea. We even drove the concept a couple of months after its reveal on the 2017 Detroit Auto Present.
This prototype appears to be like fairly completely different than the idea, however carefully aligns with particulars seen in spy shots of check automobiles. The manufacturing ID.Buzz will use the identical MEB platform because the ID.4 and ID.5, in addition to the European-market ID.3 hatchback and the Audi This fall E-Tron SUV and Sportback.
We additionally know that each passenger and cargo variations are deliberate, the latter previewed by 2018’s ID.Buzz Cargo idea. VW may additionally make use of the ID.Buzz in an autonomous taxi service starting in 2025. The automaker launched a sketch of a self-driving ID.Buzz earlier this yr, and introduced the start of testing a couple of months later. The service might be run by the VW Group’s Moia mobility division, with an autonomous-driving system developed by Argo AI, of which the VW Group is a serious shareholder.
