Volkswagen finally built an interesting MPV, still electric

Although the Volkswagen ID. family based on the MEB pure electric platform development seems to be a bit stumbling when it debuts, the traditional giants are obviously not so easy to be overthrown, and at this stage, several models of the ID. family have basically found their own rhythm.

And Volkswagen, as we all know, is best at "breeding" a variety of models on a modular platform, and somehow, this time the attention of this car in the world does not seem to be lower than any previous ID. series model.

Yes, that's the ID. Buzz。

Buzz: refers to a buzzing sound, which can be understood as a faint sound emitted by an electric vehicle when driving; it can also be used as "bus", that is, a bus, which can be understood as the body form of a vehicle. What a clever name.

The ID. Buzz is the ID. family's first production car not to be named after a number.

I think this will also be a trend in the future, after all, when traditional manufacturers are just involved in the field of electric vehicles, it seems that they always want to emulate or learn from new forces in the naming method to highlight the digital attributes of electric vehicles, but for traditional manufacturers with a wide range of models, such as ID.3 and ID.4, it is only a number to distinguish between compact hatchbacks and compact SUVs, and when the product lineup is richer, it will inevitably be chaotic.

But a name is obviously not an ID. The main reason Buzz is so popular, and why, is the subject of our article today.

Past and Future

You may not have heard of the name Volkswagen T1, but you should have seen T1 in some film and television works, landscape photos or wedding photos, but you don't know it's called T1 yet.

On March 8, 1950, the first Volkswagen T1 drove off the production line of wolfsburg main plant, which was the second model launched by Volkswagen after the Beetle, and there are still a considerable number of T1s carefully collected around the world, and it can be said that the T1 is no less classic than the Beetle.

On March 9, 72 years later (European time, I don't know why it didn't echo March 8 72 years ago), Volkswagen released the ID. Buzz, although it does not have the T1's iconic round lights, this car can be seen everywhere in the charm of the T1. I even think that under the properties of electric vehicles, ID. Buzz does not need to have a section of the engine compartment like the oil car Matway (that is, the "incense" passed down from generation to generation in the T1), and the body proportions can better restore the Van form of the T1.

▲ This Matway T6 is just a "skin" of the T1, and the soul is not interesting enough

Counting down, Volkswagen has been hanging everyone's appetite for a long time, because as early as 2017, they released an ID. Buzz concept car, this is the second concept car of the ID. series, at that time the mass production models of the ID. series have not yet been officially released, which shows that Volkswagen has long had such a retro van plan.

The vehicle styling design combines the original of the T1 with the futuristic sense that an electric vehicle should have, and even on the D-pillar, there are three trim strips, which is a tribute to the rear engine heat dissipation port of the early T series models, just ID. The pattern inlaid inside the Buzz strip is also similar to the style that can be selected on the ID.3 C pillar.

It is often said that the world of electric vehicles is boring, although it can be very strong quickly without spending a lot of costs, but from another point of view, the electric vehicle species also makes the trend of cars returning to the attributes of transportation equally strong.

It just so happens that the MPV or van is a relatively instrumental type of model in a variety of cars, and the combination of electric and MPV or van attributes will theoretically be instrumental and boring quadratic, but they are in ID. Buzz achieves a subtle sense of coordination, and even complements each other to present a strong breath of life. Of course, if you can't appreciate it, it is a "sense of lala".

▲ID. Buzz Cargo

Anyway, the look of this electric Van, I like it.

It's just that......

Open the car door and have a look?

After opening the door, ID. Buzz doesn't seem to give that much excitement.

The first is the design language of the interior, although the color matching is as bright as the existing ID, but the overall design is not obviously different from the existing ID. If you have an ID in front of the screen, you'll even feel that the interior of the ID. Buzz is not as good as your own car.

For example, the "extra" gear lever, which is probably Van's posture, makes the dashboard farther away from the driver's body, so ID. Buzz no longer incorporates the gear selection knob on the right side of the dashboard screen like ID.3~ID.6. And Volkswagen's designers seem to be lazy not to assign another exquisite position to the gear selection agency.

Probably they spent all their thoughts on these little Easter eggs.

In addition, it is the spatial layout inside the box, which makes our imagination of this Van "return" to the category of MPV.

First of all, let's report the parameters of a set of body, the length is 4712mm, which is 15 centimeters shorter than the Odyssey, which is centimeters! So it's quite short. But the wheelbase is 2988mm, 88mm longer than the Odyssey, the four wheels are very close to the four corners, which is very electric, so the longitudinal compartment space is probably not a problem, MEB space utilization We have seen in ID.3 and ID.4.

Just the upfront ID. Buzz is only available in two rows and five-seater versions, for ID. For buzz body structure, three rows of six or seven seats should not be very stressful. At this time, there is another problem, the second row of seats can not be completely folded below the ground level, from the picture, there is no Honda Fit magic seat spell.

This is probably related to the ID. Buzz wants to reserve a straight platform for Cargo's "brick-moving version", and the seats can only be directly above the platform, rather than like ID.6, which can dig a "pool" for the second row of seats.

The era of electric vehicles is still unchanged in response to changes?

Judging from the picture, ID. Buzz doesn't seem to be very wide, mainly because the body is very tall and the body lines are relatively straight. Actually, ID. The width of the Buzz is 1985mm. Although we often see very wide bodies in the field of electric vehicles, such as the Weilai full series, the Extreme Kr 001 and other models, they are so wide that I slightly lose the confidence to shuttle through the traffic, in part because of the larger battery, or compatibility with the power exchange function and so on.

But on the MEB platform, we don't see any wide-body traditions (what?). You say Volkswagen's wide-body coupe? It's very skinny! The widest ID.6 was previously 1848mm, while id.3 could even be as narrow as 1778mm.

Actually, I'm not talking about ID. Buzz is too wide, after all, such a tall car, wide is normal, and it also has the attribute of a return weapon in Europe, and the size of the cargo compartment needs to match the standardized shelves in Europe.

However, the battery on board this cargo is still a standardized MEB specification, only 77 kWh of electricity, the same as ID.4, because the higher and wider body will bring greater wind resistance, so the battery life will definitely be discounted on the basis of ID.4 (Volkswagen has not announced the ID at present. Buzz's specific endurance).

I guess, ID. Buzz's chassis space should also hold more power.

The same is not only the battery capacity, but also the motor specifications, ID. Buzz currently released only a single motor rear-drive version, the maximum power is also 150kW, although it is a tool car, do not pursue any speed and passion, but it is inevitable that it is too "lazy".

However, eating it all over the sky is also the traditional method of Volkswagen, which is true in the era of oil trucks, and it is still the case in the era of trams.

Can Chinese consumers expect that?

ID. Buzz will be launched in Europe this year, produced at Volkswagen's commercial vehicle plant in Hanover, and starts at around €40,000 in Europe, slightly higher than the STARTING price of the ID.4. It should be noted that the ID.4 entry-level version is equipped with a 52-degree battery, while the ID. Buzz only offers a 77-degree battery, while the 77-degree ID.4 needs to be sold for nearly 45,000 euros, so the ID of the same battery capacity. Buzz will start at a lower price than ID.4, but don't forget that Buzz has a Cargo version, and the starting price of 40,000 euros may refer to the lower base configuration of the Cargo version.

Volkswagen also claims ID. Buzz won't hit the North American market until at least 2023, but Volkswagen may offer a slightly longer wheelbase ID for the North American market. Buzz。

And the Chinese market, come or not, import or domestic, by whom to domestically, these issues are not exact news.

I think that such a native electric vehicle based on the MEB platform is unique at this stage, whether in Van or in the MPV field, although it is not perfect, but it is also an interesting car.

It just so happens that in the past two years our domestic MPV market seems to have ushered in a wave of small climax, the public should consider the ID. Buzz brings the Chinese market. Theoretically, North and South Volkswagen, which owns the MEB plant, wants to put into production this ID. Buzz should not be technically difficult.

In addition to the FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen that we are familiar with, Volkswagen also has an important layout in China - Volkswagen Anhui. Volkswagen's Anhui plant and various supply chains are in full swing, although the current FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen have held the vast majority of the ID. series of models, but this does not mean that the future Volkswagen will not shift the focus on electric vehicles, after all, for Volkswagen's huge product system, the current ID. is really just a prologue.

Not long ago, Volkswagen's Anhui MEB plant reported the completion of the body workshop. Volkswagen Anhui is expected to be put into production in 2023 and will focus its firepower on electric vehicles. This time node, this technical basis, seems to be for ID. Buzz has opened the channel, of course, according to Volkswagen's strong product derivation capabilities, it is entirely possible to incubate other more mainstream product types for Volkswagen Anhui.

Issue 1835

Author: Chen Houze