The hotly-anticipated ID. Buzz will go on sale shortly. According to Electrive (citing a German auto magazine), however, prices will start a few pennies below €60,000. For those in the colonies, that’s a staggering $68,671 starting price on what is, effectively, a minivan. And that, friends and neighbors, is a sizable chunk of change!
Update: Note that the rumored price above would include VAT (sales tax). Various commenters (see comments below article) have provided context for what that means in Europe and what it might mean in the USA.
The ID. Buzz — a battery electric reincarnation of the iconic Volkswagen Microbus and darling of the Woodstock Generation — has been in the gestation phase since Angela Merkel was a schoolgirl, or so it seems. Through the years, there have been glowing stories coming out of VW headquarters about the ID. Buzz. Company officials have been enthusiastic, saying they have seldom seen such an outpouring of emotion about a prospective new model. Photos of the ID. Buzz parked on a beach with a spectacular sunset in the distance have whetted everyone’s appetite for the vehicle that would usher in a new era of the Endless Summer.
I confess I was one of those who fell hard for the prospect of owning an ID. Buzz. A van-type vehicle with lots of room for people and stuff based on the MEB chassis that underpins the ID. 3 and ID.4? How great would that be!
Image courtesy of Volkswagen
Image courtesy of Volkswagen
Image courtesy of Volkswagen
Image courtesy of Volkswagen
Image courtesy of Volkswagen
To this uninformed scribe, such an astronomical asking price is ridiculous. It makes no more sense than Jeep tacking on an extra 20 grand for a plug-in hybrid version of the Grand Cherokee with a paltry 25 miles of range. Any thoughts I might have had about delaying my purchase of a Tesla Model Y until the ID. Buzz was available in America shriveled up when I discovered how much this thing was going to cost. More than 70 grand with a few options? I don’t think so.
Official prices will be revealed when the company is ready to start taking orders later this year, probably in May. Deliveries are expected to begin in September. At first, the van will come in a 5 passenger short-wheelbase version — 4.7 meters long — with one rear motor. A dual motor version will be added later. In 2023, a 5 meter long version with space for a third row of seats will appear.
Initially, the ID. Buzz will come with a 77 kWh battery. There are rumors that a 111 kWh battery — the largest that will fit in the MEB chassis — will be available later. No estimated range figures have been released as of yet, but the ID. Buzz will be less aerodynamic than its MEB based siblings, so expect it to travel fewer miles on a given amount of electricity.
The Steve Takeaway
After all the years of hype, the reality is quite a letdown. That cute little ID. Buzz you craved is going to cost as much as the lesser versions of the Porsche Taycan and various electric models from Audi. It’s cute and all, but it ain’t that cute! Color me disappointed — and disinterested.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
