Volkswagen employees and executives have celebrated production of the first mass-produced, all-electric ID. Buzz people mover at its main plant in Hannover, Germany.
Pitched as a spiritual successor to the original Kombi, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is high up on VW Australia’s wish list.
The ID. Buzz is built in the same factory as the T6.1-generation Volkswagen Transporter and its derivatives which include the Multivan, Caravelle and California.
German orders recently opened for the ID. Buzz, which is priced from €54,270 ($A80,850) in base Pro guise or €64,581 ($A96,211) including value added tax (VAT).
These prices are before the German Government electric vehicle (EV) subsidy of €6000 ($A8938).
The ID. Buzz Cargo commercial van is cheaper, naturally – €45,740 ($A68,142) excluding VAT, or €54,430 ($A81,088) including the tax.
For context, the base ID. Buzz people mover’s German-market price puts it approximately €3000 below the base Mercedes-Benz EQV.
Including VAT but excluding the EV subsidy, the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo work out to be €20,000 more than a base Multivan or Transporter, respectively.
The ID. Buzz people mover’s base price puts it above a base Porsche Macan (€64,464 including VAT) or 718 Cayman (€58,038), but below a base Touareg (€66,890).
The base Volkswagen Touareg in Australia, the 170TDI, is currently priced from $87,990 before on-road costs, and a base Porsche Macan costs $84,800 before on-road costs.
The MEB-based ID. Buzz and Cargo use a 82kWh battery and a 150kW/310Nm rear electric motor, with a claimed range of up to 423km (WLTP), and DC fast-charging speeds of up to 170kW.
Despite demand, we’ll be waiting until late 2024 at the earliest to see the ID. Buzz and its ID. Buzz Cargo van counterpart in Australia.
“We’re constantly talking to not only local government, but fleet customers about what our future looks like for electric vehicles, because it’s in high demand, they want to move that way sooner [rather] than later,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Australia brand director Ryan Davies told CarExpert last week.
“ID. Cargo is firmly on our radar as well as ID. Buzz, [but] probably the earliest we could anticipate selling it is late 2024.
“We have big aspirations in terms of volume for that car, so we are confident that we’re going to get it. With what we have put on the table, with what we can achieve here from a volume perspective, we think the factory would be pretty happy with that appetite.”
Volkswagen globally has focused on sell its ID. EV range (ID. 3 hatch; the ID.4, ID.5 and ID.6 crossovers; and now the ID. Buzz and Cargo range) in Europe, China and North America first, where demand and incentives are greater.
In a similar story to the ID. Buzz, Australia won’t be receiving the ID.4 and ID.5 crossovers until late 2023 at the earliest, despite them being on sale already in other markets.
Over the next few years the electric van space in Australia will grow considerable, with the introduction of the second-generation Renault Kangoo EV, Ford E-Transit and E-Transit Custom, and the Mercedes-Benz eVito, EQV and eSprinter.
MORE: Volkswagen ID. Buzz and Cargo EV vans in high Australian demand
MORE: Volkswagen ID. Buzz: Retro EV hits Europe with premium pricing
