It’s official – the iconic VW Microbus is coming back… as a future-proofed EV! It’s still some way off (Volkswagen is talking of an on-sale date after 2022) but the announcement is still headline news – especially as Volkswagen also confirmed ahead of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance that it’s to be derived from the amazing I.D. Buzz concept car.
Pictured next to the 70-year-old original and the I.D. Buzz concept, Volkswagen CEO Dr Herbert Diess claimed the new vehicle 'unites past and future as well as Pebble Beach and the Silicon Valley'. It will be 'an important pillar in Volkswagen’s electric drive initiative and carries the Microbus driving feeling into the future'.
Volkswagen has it all planned out: the new EV Microbus will use the electric drivetrain of its upcoming I.D. electric car, which itself is set to arrive in 2022. The I.D. Buzz-derived model will follow after that, and be sold in Europe, North America and China.
It’s all thanks to pressure from customers too, claimed Dr. Diess. 'After the presentations at the global motor shows in Detroit (pictured below) and Geneva, we received a large number of letters and emails from customers who said, "please build this car"' said Dr. Diess.
Gallery: Volkswagen I.D. Buzz Concept: Detroit 2017
Not only will it be an EV, it will also offer Level 3 self-driving autonomy – and there will be a CV version too, which Volkswagen hopes will be the perfect inner city van. Both will be around 4.9 metres long, 1.9 metres wide and almost two metres tall, for 'extraordinary space dimensions'.
Batteries will be mounted in the floor, so the front and rear wheels can be positioned far apart, maximising interior space. 'The vehicle therefore looks like a short compact van on the outside, even as it offers the generous interior space of a large van', said Dr. Diess. Both models will be part of Volkswagen's plans to offer more than 30 all-electric production cars by 2025.
Watch this space for more news of the revived VW Microbus and VW I.D. Buzz concept from Motor1 soon…
Gallery: Volkswagen I.D. Buzz at Pebble Beach