Tree huggers, freewheelers and other sunny souls may enjoy taking advantage of a brand-new all electric option from Volkswagen, perhaps adorning it with a bumper sticker that says “not all who wander are lost.”
Reports this week show that VW is poised to come out with the ID Buzz, a modern reincarnation of the old Volkswagen van so beloved by antique vehicle restorers.
The new version will come with Volkswagen’s MEB modular electric architecture, and a top speed of 90 mph.
“The models of the future I.D. family are currently being developed on the basis of the new Modular electric drive matrix (MEB),” write VW spokespersons in internal literature. “These are Volkswagens in a variety of classes which have been designed as full electric vehicles and reach ranges of up to 500 km and more. The architecture of the MEB will fundamentally change electric cars and cars in general. The Modular Electric Toolkit jettisons all the ballast of the fossil age as it has been designed consistently for electric cars. This leads to fundamental changes in body design, interior design, the package and the powertrain characteristics of electric Volkswagens.”
There’s also lots of storage and infotainment, as noted in coverage by Andrew Hawkins at The Verge.
“The cockpit of the ID Buzz is similar to the ID 4, with a 10-inch gauge cluster paired with a 10-inch centrally positioned infotainment system,” Hawkins writes. “The vehicle’s software can be updated over the air and will support both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.”
As for the current chip shortage squeezing auto makers, Volkswagen seems to be positioning for higher levels of manufacturing with scarcity easing up as chip producers gear up for a better year.
“We had really a challenging quarter,” CEO Herbert Diess told reporters in October of last year. “We have better [chip] supply now and hopefully months after months we can increase.”
If you love the “VW travel van,” look for the ID Buzz to hit the streets.
