ID. Buzz will bring a smile to your face
This is a large, robust, well-built vehicle. Boxy in shape, with a flat roof and sliding side doors for easy access.
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz is a battery electric minibus inspired by the brand’s original Transporter van and built on the German carmaker’s dedicated battery-electric MEB platform which they use for all their various brand’s EV models. It is offered as an all-electric passenger car and cargo commercial van. The name ‘Buzz’ was derived from the word ‘bus’, acknowledging its van origins.
ID. Buzz is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, particularly so in the optional two-tone white/yellow colour combination. My car looked a bit bland by comparison with its Candy White exterior. It was the Max 5-seater passenger car version that measures 1,937mm in height, 4,712 in length and 1,985mm in width so it is wider than Volkswagen's Transporter-based camper van. The wheelbase stretches to 2,988mm.
This is a large, robust, well-built vehicle. Boxy in shape, with a flat roof and sliding side doors for easy access.
You have to climb up high to access the driver’s seat. The interior is extremely spacious, with huge head and legroom for all occupants. It’s also bright and airy with so much glass front and rear while the cream, black and grey interior with very nice materials (recycled materials, so no animal leather), looked really welcoming.
The dash is dominated by a stand-alone 12-inch infotainment touchscreen display. Sliding side doors are power-operated and provide easy access to the rear seats.
The power tailgate opens really high (which could be a problem for some not-so-tall people when they want to close it again) to reveal a boot capacity of a huge 1,121 litres which will swallow up multiple suitcases or fit camping gear even with middle seats still in use.
Grades are Life, Family, Tech and Max which was my car’s grade. A very good selection of useful features come as standard; dual-zone air conditioning, two C-USB small ports in the front and four in the rear, a leatherette-wrapped multifunction steering wheel that can be heated, set for for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired and wireless), and a good navigation system that includes a media and internet package. Driver Assistance systems include Blind Spot Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Park Assist, and ‘Front Assist’ auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist monitoring. My car had a great reversing camera and parking sensors - all needed when trying to park this big ‘un into an average-sized car park as it will extend way over the end line.
The powertrain is a 77 kWh battery combined with a 204bhp motor that drives the rear axle, matched with a single-speed automatic transmission. Power consumption for my top Max grade is a claimed 21.3 kWh/100kms.
I found the Buzz surprisingly easy to drive, offering a smooth, very quiet drive with good acceleration. It is capable of a 0-100km/h time of 10.2 secs. I liked the not too heavy nor too light steering which offered good feedback and the car’s very impressive turning circle of just 12.5m.
The official electric range is 417kms. The ID. Buzz was awarded a five-star rating in crash tests by Euro NCAP in 2022.
PRICES: My car was priced at €65,584 exclusive of the SEAI grant of €3,500. With the optional trailer hitch, the total OTR price was €66,704 inclusive of VAT. Annual road tax is €120.
