"The legend will return on March 9, 2022," is a quote shared by Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess on Twitter the other day, which is accompanied by a sketch of the new car design, which is clear from the outline that it is the ID.BUZZ Volkswagen.
At the Detroit Auto Show about five years ago, volkswagen ID.BUZZ concept car debuted for the first time, and almost from the first glance of the car, you know where the designer got the design inspiration from.
In the time since, including some official posters, Volkswagen ID.BUZZ has also appeared several times along with Volkswagen T1 as CP.
The Volkswagen T1 is the first generation of the Volkswagen Transformer series, and anyone familiar with this car should know how classic the Volkswagen T1 is.
In 1950, the Volkswagen Beetle production line of Wolfsburg pulled down a round flat-headed van, which was the T1. As the originator of the van utility vehicle, the T1 and the Beetle model were developed on the same platform, and many components, including the engine, followed the configuration of the Beetle at that time, and the two were produced in a common line.
T1's avant-garde appearance and performance passed, at that time, just after the end of World War II, a withered Europe, T1 from 1950 to 1967 production of 18 years in 18 years, this brilliant achievement directly established the status of T1 legend. For Europeans at that time, the significance of several generations of VolkswagenTransporter series models represented by T1 was probably like the Wuling Hongguang that bloomed everywhere in China today, which was a generation of god cars carrying countless families.
▲ It is rumored that the Volkswagen T1 model will be unveiled at the RM Sotheby's Arizona car auction at the end of January, produced in 1964, with an estimated auction price of 8-100,000... Dollar
Volkswagen T1 has been canonized, the question is whether Volkswagen, who is considered by Dies to be the "return of legends", can ID.BUZZ take over this mantle?
Although it has been 5 years since the concept car was unveiled, there is no doubt that the ID.BUZZ was born based on the Volkswagen MEB platform.
The ductility of the Volkswagen MEB is very high, spanning five brands from Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, SEAT to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, ID.BUZZ as the first Volkswagen electric MPV, it is expected to be the largest size of the current MEB production car.
The MEB platform is surrounded by a layout around the battery pack, the battery is tiled and embedded in the bottom of the car, the axle module and the drivetrain module are placed forward and backward as much as possible, the wheelbase can be longer, the front and rear suspension is shorter, and there is no central platform bulge, which are the characteristics of the model born of the MEB platform.
And these features, for volkswagen ID.BUZZ such electric MPV is even more advantageous, long wheelbase, short front and rear suspension can make the internal space of volkswagen ID.BUZZ become larger, long wheelbase, no central platform bulge characteristics will also bring about the improvement of driving comfort.
If you only look at the appearance, you can also see the spatial characteristics of the ID.BUZZ born on the MEB platform, that is, "four wheels and four corners", which is actually similar to the Volkswagen T1, the space is large and more flexible.
At the same time, the long wheelbase of volkswagen ID.BUZZ will make it the largest battery pack for the MEB platform.
In China, the ID.family model currently offers three different battery capacity options of 55kWh, 62kWh and 83kWh, but according to foreign media reports, the battery capacity of Volkswagen ID.BUZZ will reach 111kWh, and the battery pack is composed of 16 modules, which is consistent with the previously released Volkswagen electric flagship sedan I.D.Vizzion.
The 111kWh battery pack may bring more than 600km of WLTP range to the Volkswagen ID.BUZZ, and in terms of power, the entry-level may adopt a rear-mounted electric motor, with a maximum power of 150kW and a maximum torque of 310 N.m. On the mid-range model, it may be equipped with a dual-motor power system, and the maximum power may exceed 230KW.
As the official release time is approaching, the true appearance of Volkswagen ID.BUZZ has gradually emerged, and the mass production version of Volkswagen ID.BUZZ has also been released recently, as follows:
ID.BUZZ the figure of the mass production version and the concept car at the time of the debut did not change much, the degree of restoration is very high, in addition to the current ID. family's iconic through lights and flat LOGO, the overall shape is still a tribute to the original Volkswagen Transformer codenamed T1.
However, the interior part that is not shown in the video is that the style has changed greatly, and the concept version of the Volkswagen ID.BUZZ the interior is like this, as shown above.
Now the Volkswagen ID.BUZZ camouflage car interior that has been exposed in the test is as follows, and there is no doubt that it is the same ID electric family interior design, with a unified style and cost savings.
In addition, unlike the production version covered with colored lines in the official video, the full picture of the ID.BUZZ test car that was filmed on the road is actually as follows.
Lidar is the focus, and the test vehicle is equipped with 6 lidar and 14 cameras as well as other sensors.
Lidar comes from argo AI, the founding company of autonomous driving technology, and Argo AI's lidar route and other technical solutions are somewhat different, can detect target objects with 10% reflectivity at 400 meters and target objects with 3.5% reflectivity at 250 meters, almost twice the detection distance of most current lidars.
Previously, in 2017, Argo AI was acquired by Ford for $1 billion, and then Volkswagen, with $1 billion in cash and AID, Volkswagen's self-driving subsidiary AID, valued at $1.6 billion, once again invested in Argo AI and acquired a $500 million stake in Argo AI from Ford, and Ford and Volkswagen have an equal equity stake in Argo AI.
According to Volkswagen's plan, in 2025, Volkswagen's own mobility subsidiary Moia will use ID.BUZZ AD autonomous vehicles for commercial operations, while the ID.BUZZ AD assisted driving system will be handled by Argo AI, just like the three obvious logos on the body of this ID.BUZZ test vehicle, Volkswagen, Moia, argo AI.
Argo AI will develop a series of supports for ID.BUZZ, including autonomous driving systems and supporting maps, hardware, and software, with the goal of achieving assisted driving L4 level by 2025.
According to different target scenarios, Volkswagen will ID.BUZZ also release both passenger and commercial versions at the same time, the two versions may be distinguished according to the wheelbase, while the passenger version will be a long wheelbase model, and the commercial version is the version equipped with the Argo AI automatic driving system.
It's unclear whether the upcoming Volkswagen ID.BUZZ will get the same capabilities as the commercial version of the driver assistance system in the passenger version. However, at least based on the large space and long endurance brought by the MEB platform, it has laid a reliable performance foundation for the ID.BUZZ of this car, which is also competitive in the current market ID.BUZZ.
If the Volkswagen ID.ID.BUZZ passenger version is officially released, the assisted driving system can also reach a fairly good level, or to give a futures follow-up upgrade to the L4 level of assisted driving.
So can you recreate the legend of Volkswagen T1, not to mention, in the current intelligent electric vehicles, Volkswagen ID.ID.BUZZ will indeed become a very special existence, after all, with advanced level of assisted driving ability, and design, texture and other conditions are good pure electric MPV, the current market has not really been.