The best cars are built with a perfect understanding of who their buyer is. Ford trucks offer special workspaces, lie-flat seats and onboard generators for the contractors that live out of their trucks. Rivian offers a camping mode and a camp kitchen for adventurous drivers. Tesla invented "Dog Mode" and offers 24/7 security using "Sentry Mode."
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz needs some of that magic because its interior and software experience don't have the charm of its stunning exterior design.
Gallery: Volkswagen ID. Buzz First Drive Gallery
Volkswagen clearly tried to imbue some of that customer-centric design into its new electric bus reboot. The highlight is a removable center console, with enough space for some cans. Some call this a cooler alternative, though there doesn't appear to be much thermal insulation.
At least the dividers on the top are useful. One functions as a bottle opener, good for a surf/camp van, and one as an ice scraper. But for an aspirational, $65,000+ vehicle, I was hoping for more touches that are specific to the camping and surfing image that has long defined the VW van. There's quite literally nothing in the software to meaningfully distinguish it from the existing ID.4. Don't take it from me.
"Basically, it's kind of carryover software [from] what exists in ID.4," VW's U.S. Director of Product and Strategy Jeffrey Lear told InsideEVs. "So we just haven't debuted whatever the next steps are for that."
He said this to explain why the ID. Buzz does not have a camp mode, which allows people to keep the heater or air conditioner and power outlets running in vehicles like the Tesla Model Y and Rivian R1T.
The ID. Buzz also doesn't offer any sort of pet or dog mode like a Tesla or Rivian, so you can't run the HVAC while you pop into a store. You can't even easily lie down in the back with the HVAC on when charging, for instance, because the Buzz powers down when you get out of the driver's seat. You have to fool it by buckling something heavy into the seat.
The second row of seats is also not removable without using tools and unclipping harnesses, and VW doesn't recommend you do it yourself. There's no way to lock keys in the car while surfing, for instance, and the proximity key means you can't really use a lockbox unless you wrap the key in foil to prevent the car from detecting it.
This is a pain point in my Chevy Blazer EV, and I thought the bus, of all cars, would have a solution for surfers. Lear says VW is aware of that issue.
One more use-specific complaint: Despite the bus being one of the most windows-down cars in the world, it still uses those awful, no-good, rotten window switches you get in the ID.4 (and now the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3). There are two switches and a capacitive toggle button labeled "rear," which you use if you need to roll down the back windows. Why they couldn't swing four individual switches in a $65,000 car is beyond me. At least you can still roll all four windows down by holding the "rear" button.
Unfortunately, though, it quickly defaults back from that mode, which means you have to hold the button again if you want to roll the windows back up. The audio feedback from tapping the "rear" button is also still a half-second behind and doesn't come from the left, shattering any illusion that you're using a real, responsive button.
Moaning behind me, I can report that the rest of the ID. Buzz's interior and software experience is pleasant. The wide sliding doors offer plenty of room, and sliding the second-row bench forward is an easy, one-move process. You can also get captain's chairs in the second row on the top-trim bus, though the heated bench is plenty comfortable.
But the ID. Buzz' killer app is its passenger space. You won't find a better third row anywhere in the business. The ID. Buzz seats slide, recline and offer more legroom than a Chevy Suburban or Toyota Sienna. Here's a video showing how easy it is to get in, and how much space you have. The headroom is somewhere near infinite, even with the glass roof option.
The tradeoff for this is that, unlike a Suburban, Sienna or nearly any SUV or van, the ID. Buzz's third row does not fold flat. Instead, it folds level with an available parcel shelf in the rear, which VW notes is strong enough to support two adults.
In theory, you could sleep on something that spans the folded second and third rows with the parcel shelf, though you'd have to plug the wide gaps between them. VW could solve this with an accessory to aid sleeping in the back of the van, but it so far hasn't announced anything of the sort.
The software experience will be familiar to anyone with an ID.4, although it must be noted that the latest version is significantly better than it used to be. There's still a capacitive slider for volume control in lieu of a knob, though at least it's backlit and responsive.
Still, the infotainment UX is not the clearest or easiest to decipher, but it's plenty fast. I wish there was a better home screen that just showed your map and current track, and that settings and controls weren't so spread over so many confounding menus. But the ID. Buzz has great automatic route planning for road trips, supports preconditioning with helpful displays about your current max charging rates and supports plug and charge at Electrify America. As a car in general, I don't love the software. Yet as an EV, it succeeds in offering most of what you need.
So the ID. Buzz won't really live or die by its software. It is not really defined by its specs or interior, besides the fact that you can fit nearly everything you'd want in there, with space for at least six full-grown adults on as long of a trip as you'd ever take. Its cargo room with all seats in place is far less than a minivan, though, with 18.6 cubic feet compared to 32 cubes in a Chrysler Pacifica, 33.5 in a Sienna or 40.3 in a Kia Carnival.
Combined with the ID. Buzz's timid range figure—it maxes out at 234 miles of EPA-estimated range—a conventional or hybrid van is still a more practical road tripper.
But to find out whether the ID. Buzz is fun and comfortable on the road, you'll have to wait for our first drive review. Check back here soon.
