2024 Volkswagen ID Buzz electric microbus revealed: less flower, more

After five years of teases, the long-awaited debut of the Volkswagen ID Buzz is finally here. The German automaker revealed the all-electric van at a virtual event on Wednesday, where it positioned the ID Buzz as a recreation of its iconic Type 2 Microbus — think hippies, flower power, and peace signs — for a more modern era.

The ID Buzz and its commercial equivalent, the ID Buzz Cargo, will arrive in Europe later this year, with a longer wheelbase version for US markets scheduled to make its debut in 2023 and go on sale here in 2024.

There’s a lot we still don’t know — mainly the price. But the ID Buzz will play a crucial role as VW continues along its transformational path from environmental scofflaw (remember Dieselgate?) to EV leader. The van will serve as a showcase for the company’s MEB modular electric architecture, and it will be among the first electric vans marketed specifically with families in mind.

The van has been slightly updated from the concept form that first captured many people’s imagination back in 2017. The grille is a little bit different, with larger air vents than you might typically expect from an electric vehicle. And the overall shape is boxier, with sharper angles and a taller road stance.

But VW stayed surprisingly true to the original design, even going so far as to offer the same Day-Glo lemon yellow two-tone paint scheme as an option. (VW is offering a total of 11 color variants.)

The first European version of the ID Buzz will feature a battery pack with 81 kWh of energy capacity, 77 kWh of which is usable. That will power a rear-axle motor capable of putting out 201 horsepower and 229 lb-feet of torque. But let’s face it: this is not an EV destined for the track — in fact, VW is limiting the van’s top speed to just 90 mph (145 km/h). Considering its ancestor could only hit 60 mph (usually while cruising downhill), this shouldn’t be too disappointing to most customers.

VW isn’t revealing the driving range, but all signs point to around 300 miles on a full charge. The charging power when using alternating current (AC) is 11 kW. At a DC fast-charging station, the ID Buzz’s charging power increases to as much as 170 kW. VW claims the vehicle will charge from 5 to 80 percent in just 30 minutes — or just eight minutes less than the 2021 VW ID 4 SUV.

In the future, VW says the ID Buzz will offer Plug and Charge functionality, the standard that enables an EV to automatically identify and authorize itself to a third-party charging station on behalf of the owner.

But the ID Buzz should have adequate charging support, thanks to VW-subsidiary Electrify America, which has more than 670 charging stations across the US, including…