Upgraded: Oct 1, 2024 at 2:20 am ET
America is just now getting the ID.Buzz, Volkswagen has actually been offering its retro electrical minivan in Europe for a number of years. In a quote to make the zero-emission household hauler more achievable, there’s a brand-new Freestyle taste working as the entry-level trim. As you can see from images we drew from the German configurator, you’ll need to make some severe concessions.
The spartan-spec ID.Buzz has 18-inch steel wheels with 235/60 R18 front and 255/55 R18 rear tires. That advises me of another electrical lorry from the VW Group constructed on the exact same MEB platform with even bigger steelies. A couple of months earlier, I was shocked to see the Audi Q4 E-Tron has a 19-inch set with marvelous hubcaps. If desire alloys, VW has a number of 19-inch sets that cost around EUR2,500 ($2,800) more.
This Candy White color is the just one used at no additional expense, however an optional metal Moon Silver can be had for an extra EUR1,035 ($1,150). Despite option, the ID.Buzz Freestyle includes unpainted bumpers that look right out of the 1980s. Mentioning things no longer in style, VW includes those side decals free of charge.
The interior is naturally bleak too with basic-looking fabric seats that appear like leftovers from a base Golf Mk4. You still get that huge tablet with a 12.9-inch display screen and cordless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connection. Other goodies consisted of as basic differ from height-adjustable front seats to dual-zone automated environment control.
While America just gets the extended setup, Europeans can purchase the ID. Buzz with a basic wheelbase. That’s what we have here, hosting a 59-kWh battery pack in between the 2 axles. The juice is utilized by a rear electrical motor that produces 170 horse power, approximately half of what you get in the stylish GTX trim level.
With 229 pound-feet of instantaneous torque, the pauper’s ID. Buzz in Europe takes 10.7 seconds to reach 62 miles per hour and will not go any faster than 90 miles per hour. It’s not precisely fast however that’s to be anticipated provided a curb weight of almost 5,300 pounds and just a single-motor setup. As soon as you’re out of energy, it takes 24 minutes to charge from 10% to 80% utilizing DC.
Volkswagen ID. Buzz Freestyle
At EUR49,997, the Freestyle damages the previous base trim level (Pure) by a little over EUR4,000. If we do the conversion, it exercises to a base cost of $55,663. That makes it almost $6,000 more affordable than the much better base ID.Buzz readily available in the United States. It’s not a reasonable contrast seeing as how Germans pay 19% value-added tax (VAT).
The launch of a sub-EUR50,000 ID. Buzz in Germany carefully follows the intro of a sub-EUR30,000 ID.3, the not-for-America compact electrical hatchback. VW appears to be making more efforts to offer EVs in a cooling European market by introducing extra obtainable variations.