VW EV van called the VW ID Buzz
Over the weekend, Volkswagen unveiled its electric microbus at the Detroit Auto Show. The VW EV van concept vehicle, dubbed the VW ID Buzz, is part of the automaker’s “big electric offensive”.
While the company said it is not sure if it will produce the vehicle for sale, the German automaker will be moving into the electric vehicle market beginning in 2020. By 2025, VW hopes to sell 1 million EVs per year.
“We are making electric mobility the new trademark of Volkswagen,” the automaker said in a statement.
According to VW, the ID Buzz has a 270 mile driving range and puts out a total of 369 horsepower from two electric motors. VW did not say how the driving range was calculated.
One electric motor is in the front, one at the rear and the VW EV van has all-wheel drive. VW says the microbus is also capable of fully autonomous driving with the driver’s seat able to turn around 180 degrees and the steering wheel can be retracted into the dashboard.
The new VW ID Buzz will be able to beat the original notoriously sluggish microbus off the line, with the EV reaching zero to 60 mph in just five seconds, according to VW.
Top speed will be limited to 99 mph.
VW’s push into electric vehicles comes after the automaker was mired in scandal over diesel emissions where the company was found to have installed software that reduced harmful emissions from many of the company’s diesel vehicles, but only during testing.
Part of the company’s atonement for the scandal was to build and promote electric vehicles.
Last year, VW unveiled the BUDD-e electric concept bus at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. At that time, VW said the electric VW bus could be in production by the end of the decade.
