Images of the Volkswagen ID Buzz electric van’s cabin have leaked online ahead of its imminent reveal.
We already know essentially what the ID Buzz’s exterior is going to look like, with revealing spy photos followed by official imagery from Volkswagen itself of a wrapped version.
Now, someone has taken a series of photos of the interior, which have been shared in numerous places including the VW Vortex forums.
We’ll get a more complete look on March 9 when the ID Buzz is set to be officially revealed, more than five years after the ID Buzz concept was first shown at the 2017 Detroit motor show.
We’d gotten a glimpse of the dashboard of an ID Buzz AD prototype earlier, revealing the modern-day, electric Kombi shares much with the ID.3 and ID.4 inside.
That includes the steering wheel, while the cluster and touchscreen also appear to be borrowed from the smaller Volkswagen EVs.
The ID.3 and ID.4 have both been made available with interior colourways with prominent orange accents, but the ID Buzz kicks it up a notch with an interior almost entirely orange and white, save for the carpets and items like the seat bases and tray tables.
The seats are finished in an attractive, patterned cloth upholstery.
There’s a fold-out storage caddy in the centre stack containing two cupholders, while you can spy at least one easter egg in these photos: a silhouette of the car embossed in the side of the second-row seat bases.
Something missing from the concept is the seating rail system, which allowed you to reconfigure the interior to your heart’s desire.
The concept’s clever seating arrangement allowed you to turn the front seats to face those in the rear, or use one of the second-row seats as a table.
In the load space, there’s a shelf of sorts to give the ID Buzz a flat load floor.
ID Buzz concept
No third row appears to be present, unlike the concept. It’s not yet confirmed whether a third row will be available, or whether it would be a feature exclusive to the long-wheelbase model that’ll reportedly be offered in the US.
The ID Buzz is built on the MEB platform underpinning the ID.3 hatch and the ID.4, ID.5 and ID.6 crossovers.
We expect the ID Buzz will be available with a variety of battery sizes, as well as with a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive.
For reference, the mid-sized ID.4 crossover offers a choice of 52kWh or 77kWh batteries and single- or dual-motor powertrains, ranging from 109kW to 220kW in output.
The ID Buzz is set to go on sale by the end of 2022 in markets such as Europe, but no launch timing has been confirmed for Australia.
Considering we likely won’t even be getting the ID.3 and ID.4 until 2023 or 2024, we don’t expect to see the ID Buzz in Australian showrooms imminently – even if Volkswagen Australia wants it.
Volkswagen has teased a modern-day revival of the classic Kombi before, not that it didn’t offer subsequent generations of the Transporter and its people-carrier siblings.
The Microbus concept in 2001 arrived in the height of retro-mania, following the introduction of the New Beetle, and featured a six-cylinder engine and dimensions similar to that of the contemporary Caravelle.
It was supposed to enter production but the project was cancelled in 2004. As a rather unexciting consolation prize, the North American market received a lightly restyled Dodge Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country (Voyager) called the Routan in 2008.
The next tease came in 2011 with the considerably smaller Bulli concept, which presaged a production vehicle that would offer a choice of petrol or diesel engines.
Volkswagen also said it offered an electric powertrain with a 40kWh lithium-ion battery and a 85kW/270Nm electric motor, good for a claimed range of 300km.
A year later Volkswagen confirmed development of it and the mid-engined Bluesport roadster were cancelled as the brand instead focused on something for which there was more demand: a new SUV to slot in underneath the Tiguan.
