2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz First Drive: Feelin’ The Buzz Of This Fabulous And Far Out Retro EV

It’s been over 20 years since Volkswagen ever sold any type of van worthy of attention here in North America, and yes, I’m purposely ignoring the pseudo-Volkswagen Routan abomination, which was nothing more than a rebadged fifth-generation Dodge Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country. Ever since the T4 Transporter van from 1990 through 2004, fans have been clamoring for its return after a dying minivan market and the proliferation of SUVs and crossovers in the 1990s and 2000s forced Volkswagen to withdraw its van offering entirely from the United States and Canada, though Mexico continued receiving its importation.

But since vans have been making a bit of a comeback, particularly among the remote workers and overlanding wayfarers of the new millennium, as well as an emerging market for all-electric vehicles, Volkswagen saw an opportunity and decided to seize it by reviving one of its most iconic models for the world to enjoy: the all-new VW Bus-inspired ID. Buzz. For nearly a half century, the Volkswagen Bus in any form, whether it be the OG Typ 1, Typ 2, and Typ 3 models, up through the modern T4, and, T5 and T6 Transporters, served as a globally universal automotive archetype, being one of the most popular and common ways to move people and things around the Earth in a space-efficient manner, short of resorting to a larger, commercial vehicle.

And now, it’s back and as an EV while summoning some of the beloved culture and legacy left behind by the old VW Buses of past. Can the ID. Buzz fill those shoes and reignite the peace-loving flower power legacy left behind by its forebearers?

2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz First Impressions

Although EVs have been out already for quite some time, if you were still worried that they’d roll out of the factory looking like overcooked and uninspiring futuristic blobs that came out of someone’s acid-induced fantasy, the VW ID. Buzz happily puts this worry and fear to shame. Yes, many other electric vehicles over the past decade sport designs that aren’t far off from today’s contemporary automotive aesthetic, but few actually look cool.

The ID. Buzz happily joins the pool by looking exceptionally wicked and fabulously far out. It combines both the upright semi-single box shape that made the original versions so recognizably iconic, and modern visual cues that match Volkswagen’s current ID corporate design language, all of which blend well and bring a lot of curb appeal and presence to today’s otherwise mostly bland and mundane automotive landscape. There’s only so much one can do with a vehicle shaped like a brick, but somehow, VW’s designers pulled it off and it looks just as groovy in real life and on the road as it does in pictures.

Exterior Dimensions

Driving Impressions And Performance

Excellent driving dynamics and sophisticated on-road mannerisms are buywords for German automobiles, no matter the brand and the ID. Buzz continues to be a shining example of this. Despite its electric propulsion and its wonderfully quirky design, the ID. Buzz is as easy as getting in, twisting the column-mounted shifter away from you to select “Drive” (the ID. Buzz senses when you actually fully seat your bottom into the driver’s bucket and automatically turns the van fully on), and setting off. But more so, it’s probably one of the nicest driving VWs we’ve experienced in a while that wasn’t a GTI or a Golf R.

But most of all, you’d never tell that the ID. Buzz weighs nearly as much as a fully-loaded Range Rover, hovering near or just past the three-ton mark. That’s just a testament to the brilliant minds at Volkswagen’s chassis and suspension departments. The ID. Buzz ain’t no GTI by any stretch of means, yet, it rewards with levels of maneuverability and even surprisingly high levels of grip, despite its porky weight and cumbersome size. It seemingly tackled the twisty bits of the famed Route 1 north of the San Francisco Bay Area without fuss, thanks to its quick and effortlessly accurate steering, and its expertly tuned MacPherson strut-type front and clever top-spec multi-link rear suspension setup.

Because of the low center of gravity from all of its heavy electric running gear being mounted deep into the van’s floor and wheelbase, compliments of VW’s smart MEB modular architecture, and excellent suspension tuning, it only started to show signs of resistance when you really tried to push the ID. Buzz well out of its realm. It showed up naturally in the form of mild and safe understeer, but thankfully, the body motions are very supremely controlled and were neither a bother nor fuss in quick-paced and even sporty driving. But the ID. Buzz will still kindly know when you start pushing the car out of its league. Though in all likeliness, none of the ID. Buzz’s intended buyers are likely to even come close to the car’s respectably high handling limits.

Braking And Acceleration

With around 282 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque available in rear-wheel-drive variant and up to 335 horses and over 500 torques combined with the 4Motion model, the ID. Buzz has plenty of get-up and go, on top of the already electrifying instantaneous power delivery. Mashing the pedal from either a standstill or even while in motion to perform some bidirectional two-lane highway overtaking yielded some wows from both yours truly and even my media drive partner.

Exact 0-60 MPH times weren’t and still aren’t officially available from Volkswagen, but from the classic butt-o-meter and with our smartphone stopwatches handy, it seemed to happen in the neighborhood of around 7.0 to 7.5 seconds. And because the ID. Buzz, like every other Volkswagen, is still engineered to the standards of the German Autobahn, the brakes are more than capable and up to the task of bringing this three-ton box to a short and consistent halt. And unlike the spongy brake pedal feel of VWs of the past, the ID. Buzz sports an excellent and firm pedal feel with a smooth transition from regenerative braking to physical braking that was easy to modulate in all the conditions we put it through, whether it was slowing for tight radius turns or SF’s infamous stop-and-go traffic.

• Acceleration 0-60 MPH: 7.0-7.5 Seconds (Estimated)

Performance Specifications

2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Driving Range And Charging Times

Due to our short time with the ID. Buzz, we didn’t get a chance to test the vehicle’s charging times. However, Volkswagen claims that the ID. Buzz is capable of charging from 10-80% in just 26 minutes at a rate of up to 200 kilowatts using a DC Fast Charger. We also didn’t get a chance to test the ID. Buzz’s driving range to the fullest extent.

But upon setting off in the morning, the ID. Buzz’s on-board computer indicated a distance of up to 228 miles on the full charge that was given by the fleet managers. Volkswagen claims a maximum distance of 234 miles for the rear-wheel-drive model and up to 231 miles on the 4Motion model. Stay tuned for when we get to test the ID. Buzz’s maximum range in a full review in the near future.

Interior Design And Comfort

Stepping into the ID. Buzz requires a bit of an awkward step-up, or a far leg stretch as you hoist yourself up and over the car’s rocker panel and into the driver’s or front passenger seat. But once perched up, front occupants are greeted with tons of outward visibility afforded by the abundant window real estate, which is wholly representative of the OG Bus’s and Transporter’s signature airy glasshouse (that is if you weren’t driving the utilitarian panel van variant). You sit up high with a commanding cab-forward-like view, as one did with the old Buses of yesteryear, though because of today’s crash and safety compliance regulations and the fact that the engine is no longer mounted at the rear (since the T3), you don’t sit entirely atop of the front axle. However, that didn’t affect the glasshouse-like interior and its very air and spacious feel, especially with the optional monochromatic sunroof.

The switchgear and overall instrumentation layout is simple thanks to a small protruding high-definition and color-rich digital gauge cluster mounted on the steering column for the driver. Another much larger screen sits atop the center console for all the infotainment, HVAC, and vehicle control interfaces, both of which are of the “floating” design. It’s all very cleanly laid out, keeping the interior ambiance of the ID Buzz feeling simple and smart in its execution and without any complication.

As expected from a vehicle shaped like a giant chest freezer on wheels, as most vans are, space and comfort are aplenty for all the occupants, front and rear, and even in the far back in the third row. Up to seven regular-sized adults won’t have any issue hopping into the ID. Buzz for whatever journey is needed and all are treated to comfortable seating all around. The seating figure drops to six adults for 4Motion all-wheel-drive models as second-row captain’s chair seating becomes standard.

Overall noise, vibration, and harshness levels as well as overall refinement are at near-luxury and premium car levels. But best of all is the ride quality, another testament to VW’s chassis and suspension engineers. Many EVs today suffer from a lot of damping maladies, such as freeway-hop, or the bouncing feeling you get as a car skips over bumps or protruding imperfections while traveling on the highway, something that Californian freeways are very well known for. This is due to the fact that EVs are extraordinarily heavy and engineers are still learning how to properly tune things from all the car’s heaviest components sitting low and in between the two axles, versus nearly at the front or in the rear-middle (rear for Porsche). But the ID. Buzz ironed them all out, making for one of the best ride qualities I’ve personally experienced in any mainstream electric vehicle.

Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

As one of Volkswagen’s latest all-electric models that hails from its line of ID EVs, technology is obviously a highlight for the ID. Buzz. It’s not groundbreaking or revolutionary, but the ID. Buzz remains as technologically relevant and up to the times as anything in showrooms today, whether it be powered by conventional refined dead organic matter juice or electrons.

All the pertinent vehicle functions, aside from physical window switches and door handles, are nestled into the car’s infotainment system and driver information display. The ID. Buzz does get the somewhat controversial haptic touch controls on both the steering wheel and center console, but they’re honestly not all that bad to use. The only gripe I could observe is that changing the volume or the interior temperature on the touch interfaces of the center console was a bit finicky and getting acquainted with the ID. Buzz’s infotainment software required some familiarization time.

Cargo And Storage Space

Because the ID. Buzz at its core is still a fan, cargo and storage space is aplenty, from deep cavernous door pockets and lots of benches and shelves to put smaller items, to its squared shape offering tons of room in the trunk for stacking items. The third row does compromise rear trunk space, as it does in most three-row vehicles, whether it’s a minivan or an SUV.

But the seats can easily fold down for more room and a flatter storage area behind the second row. Because all the ID. Buzz’s electric running gear is in the floorboard, the seats unfortunately don’t tuck away when fully collapsed like they do in, say, a Chrysler Pacifica. However, folding the seats does offer plenty of space for most, as long as there isn’t a need for the third row of seating.

Arguably One Of The Coolest EVs Currently Available

Whether you’re a van of EVs, minivans, or not, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz helps to inject more cool factor and diversity in the continuously growing EV market. As a car making first impressions, it’s fabulously good-looking, drives excellently, and offers a ton of space and practicality. But there are some considerable drawbacks, one of which is the price.

At $59,995 for the base S model, it may be a bit of an ask when Volkswagen, after all these years, has been promising affordable EVs in the near future and at nearly $60,000 large, that’s very well into premium car and luxury Audi territory. Pricing climbs up to $63,495 for the rear-wheel-drive Pro S Plus and $67,995 for the same version, but with two electric motors for 4Motion all-wheel drive. For those wanting to be the first to get one, ID. Buzz 1st Edition commands nearly $70,000 of your hard-earned dough.

That’s a lot money, especially when you consider that an original Volkswagen Typ 2 Bus stickered at around $3,040 in 1973 as a base model, which with inflation, amounts to around $24,720 today. As another example, a 1981 Type 3 Vanagon stickered for $10,330 to start, which is about $37,437 today. But it’s also still a sign that electric vehicle technology is still expensive and has a long way before it becomes truly affordable for all.

Volkswagen admits that the new ID. Buzz is a halo car for the brand, meaning its status as an icon at the top of Volkswagen’s totem pole will command a premium for buyers wanting to opt into the buzz that this new van generates. But whether people will buy it is a tale that has yet to unfold and only time will eventually reveal its success not just here in the States, but overall as a revival and successor to a global icon.