Heir to the legendary Bulli of the 1960s, the “official” vehicle of the hippie movement, the new Volkswagen minivan is electric and self-driving. The cabin seats eight and transforms into a lounge or bedroom. In production within 5 years.
Just as new opportunities for life often arise from fire, so too after the Dieselgate scandal — linked to the manipulation of emissions results during vehicle testing — Volkswagen has radically changed course, turning its bow in the direction of sustainable mobility. The German manufacturer aims, by 2025, to offer thirty zero-emissions models and produce at least one million battery-powered vehicles. An ambitious strategy that, at the Detroit Motor Show — currently under way — led the Wolfsburg-based company to present the second chapter of the I.D. (Intelligent Drive) saga, entirely devoted to electric propulsion. The legendary Volkswagen "van" has come back to life.
The Transporter T1 minivan — nicknamed the Bulli — became an icon of the 1960s. One of the most celebrated and beloved models ever produced by the Wolfsburg-based company, thanks to its robustness, simplicity and versatility, which made it the ideal mode of transport for hippies and flower children both in Europe and along the Californian West Coast. Now that vehicle has an heir. An heir that is electric and self-driving, presented in concept form under the name I.D. Buzz — where "Buzz" refers in English both to the characteristic hum of battery propulsion and to the buzz of excitement generated by the project — distinguished by exceptional interior modularity and hi-tech solutions.
Designed for leisure and travel, the German concept — just under five metres long — allows the front seats to be rotated 180 degrees once self-driving mode is activated, transforming the cabin into a proper lounge or bedroom. Featuring two luggage compartments, it can accommodate up to eight people, and the steering wheel — equipped with a series of touch controls — retracts into the dashboard once the autopilot is engaged, to the benefit of freedom of movement. And the instrumentation? It's "portable", since all vehicle information can be accessed via a removable tablet or through a dedicated app installed on a smartphone.
The styling is deliberately retro, but high technology dominates on board the I.D. Buzz. Automatic driver recognition, for example, allows every parameter of the car to be adapted to individual tastes and habits, while the head-up display — the device that projects travel and vehicle information onto the windscreen — makes use of augmented reality. What's more, a cloud service allows the vehicle to be updated in real time, without needing to visit a dealership or workshop, while the mechanical setup features two zero-emissions motors, one at each axle, delivering a combined output of 370 hp and all-wheel drive.
The German electric minivan uses 111 kWh batteries chargeable to 80 per cent in under thirty minutes via 150 kW high-capacity charging stations. Embedded in the floor so as to lower the centre of gravity — to the great benefit of driveability — and without encroaching on cabin space, the batteries promise a range of 600 kilometres according to the NEDC homologation cycle, or 434 kilometres in real-world conditions, while performance is worthy of a sports car: the I.D. Buzz goes from 0 to 96 km/h in under five seconds. The Volkswagen concept, which will also be available in a more accessible rear-wheel-drive version producing 268 hp with 83 kWh batteries, is not a mere styling exercise, unlike the Budd-e show car unveiled in 2016. Based on the Meb modular platform, developed by the Wolfsburg giant specifically for zero-emissions propulsion, within a few years — persistent rumours point to 2021 — it will arrive at dealerships around the world.