The iconic Volkswagen Bus will return in March. But, this time, it will be electric.
VW has been teasing a successor to its famous Microbus for several years now. Yesterday, VW boss Herbert Diess confirmed its impending arrival with a tweet.
A Call Back to a Classic
The original won the love of generations of buyers. Officially, it carried the name Volkswagen Type 2. But fans knew it as the Bus, the Microbus, the Love Bus, the Transporter, the Camper, and, outside the U.S., the Bulli and the Kombi. A factory producing rear-engine VW Buses could be found at least somewhere on the globe from 1949 through 2013.
The new one will be called the VW ID.Buzz (sadly, not ID.Bus). It rides on the same platform as the 2022 VW ID.4 EV. That SUV starts at $39,995, plus a $1,195 destination fee.
The platform is flexible, probably allowing VW to produce rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions. It doesn’t quite match the proportions of the classic. Our current understanding of auto safety makes placing so little between the driver and whatever is in front of the car a bad idea. But VW has done an admirable job of penning lines that call back to the original while meeting modern needs.
First of Its Kind Now
America will reportedly get a long-wheelbase version with three rows of configurable seating. We don’t know if the lounge-style seating seen in concept car versions will make it into production. European buyers will also have short-wheelbase and cargo van versions to choose from.
There are no electric minivans currently on the U.S. market. We expect the ID.Buzz to carry a price tag around the $45,000 mark to keep it competitive with electric SUVs and more eco-minded minivan options like the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. But all we can do is speculate for now. VW is pioneering the electric minivan market, so they get the first crack at establishing what’s normal.
We’ll bring more on March 9, when VW reveals the production ID.Buzz.
