Volkswagen to introduce ID. Buzz with smaller battery

VW Commercial Vehicles is planning a new entry-level variant for its electric minibus ID. Buzz is planning a new entry-level variant. With the smaller battery, this version is to be positioned below the price of the current model. However, VWN is already planning to increase the production volume of the new long version and the powerful all-wheel-drive GTX this year.

As Lars Krause, Board Member for Marketing at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, announced in an interview with the German publication Automobilwoche, the new version will have a smaller 62 kWh battery. However, Krause did not provide any information on the market launch date or the price of the new entry-level version.

VW Commercial Vehicles will start production of the ID. Buzz with the launch of the new GTX and long-wheelbase versions this year – by 2023, 35,000 ID. Buzz will roll off the production line. “In the second half of the year, we want to build twice as many ID. Buzz than in the same period last year. In the medium term, production of the ID. Buzz, which we build for the entire global market in Hanover, should and must be in the six-figure range,” says Krause.

Krause leaves no doubt about the fundamental electric ambitions of VW Commercial Vehicles – the plan is for 55 per cent electric vehicles in 2030. “For Europe, we assume that the electric drive will be the most popular drive in vans in three to four years’ time. In addition to the pan-European requirements, individual national legislation also plays a role,” says Krause. “This point has long since been reached in Norway, for example, and we expect it to be reached in the Netherlands in 2025, when the registration of new combustion vans will no longer be permitted in many cities.”

The all-electric ID. Buzz will soon be joined by other electric vans in the model portfolio. The new generation of the VW Transporter, which will in future be built by Ford Otosan in Turkey on the basis of the Transit Custom, will also have a battery-electric version. The new VW Crafter will follow in 2028 and will be built entirely on an all-electric platform.

“Two-thirds of our customers could already manage their everyday lives with an electric van today. Compared to our current delivery rate of just under ten per cent, there is huge potential,” Krause is convinced. “The new van will also offer a wide range of variants with electric drive – from panel vans to crew cabs. In our view, this is a particularly important challenge in convincing van customers of the benefits of electric mobility.”

automobilwoche.de (in German)