It’s no secret that people have been clamoring for a reborn Volkswagen bus for decades, and it’s finally about to happen in America. However, pricing has always been a lingering concern in the backs of everyone’s minds. Would Volkswagen aim to cash in on cultural appeal, or will the brand keep things competitive? It turns out the reality is somewhere in the middle, with Volkswagen pricing the ID. Buzz from $61,545 including a $1,550 freight charge. That’s not terrible for a dedicated three-row EV, even if the Volkswagen ID. Buzz will likely be a cult product rather than a mainstream thing.
So what do you get for $61,545? Well, you get pretty much everything you’d really want in an electric family hauler. We’re talking heated and ventilated front seats with lumbar massage, power sliding doors, 20-inch wheels, three-zone climate control, eight USB ports, a 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a nine-speaker stereo, and a slightly disappointing yet entirely reasonable-for-a-flying-brick EPA range of 234 miles.
However, you cannot get all-wheel-drive on the base Pro S trim, or paint that isn’t greyscale, meaning you’d need to step up to the Pro S Plus to even gain the option of spinning all four wheels. For $65,045 including freight, the Pro S Plus adds an easy opening function for the sliding doors and liftgate, a 14-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system, a tow hitch, a heads-up display, a movable false floor for the cargo area, and panoramic camera system. That seems like decent feature content for a $3,500 upcharge, but if you want to pay even more, options open up.
For instance, two-tone paint will run you $995, while captain’s chairs in the second row run an additional $695 on the rear-wheel-drive model, and come standard on the Pro S Plus AWD, which adds a front motor, a heated windshield, the captain’s chairs, and a whopping $4,500 over the rear-wheel-drive model for a grand total of $69,545 including freight, with the caveat of reducing range by a mere three miles to 231. Want to tip the scales over $70,000? Add either a panoramic glass roof for $1,495, the aforementioned two-tone paint, or both, why not? Even at just over $70,000, a fully loaded three-row EV with massaging front seats for that sort of money doesn’t seem exorbitant.
Oh, and if exclusivity’s on your mind, Volkswagen’s also offering an ID. Buzz 1st Edition, stickering for $67,045 for the rear-wheel-drive model and $71,545 for the all-wheel-drive model. It gets a weird mix of equipment, ditching the tow hitch, available heated windshield, and heads-up display offered on the Pro S Plus model but getting an electrochromic electronically-tintable panoramic moonroof, a roof rack, the two-tone paint, special wheels, special floor mats, special badging, and what Volkswagen refers to as “Special owner’s gifts.” If you’re a fan of Cheech and Chong, you can refer to them as paraphernalia. It’s all love.
Alright, so the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is expensive for a family hauler, but considering the three-row Kia EV9 starts at $56,395, it’s not a bad value if you truly need three rows, want an EV, and are feature-driven. Hell, even a loaded Toyota Sienna stickers for $54,595 including freight, so on feature content and practicality, the ID. Buzz actually seems well-positioned. Do we wish it was cheaper? Absolutely, but we knew this was a premium product from the start. Expect the first examples to finally roll into American showrooms before the year is through.
(Photo credits: Volkswagen)
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$20k to $25k over their competitors……my interest in the Buzz just diminished to near zero. And yes, I know the other entries in the market for family hauling vans aren’t EVs. But still, wow…..I expect this thing to start popular then fizzle once the early adopters who throw money at it because of the coolness dry up….
LOL! What?! Ain’t too bad?!
Nothing like VW of America to trade in a cultural phenomenon (like the beetle, type 2, etc) for this absolutely overpriced and about 4 (or 20) years late-to-market nostalgia van. God damn I wanted this to be attractively priced, but anything over 50k is a no-go. EVs are too expensive full stop. They should have made this with a gas engine after the first one or two concepts and they’d be printing money by now, just like they did with the original new beetle.
Yeah, this is maybe what, $10k more than a loaded Sienna with AWD and an Hybrid powertrain? That’s the competitor here and honestly, how in the world did minivans touch $50k anyway? I guess if I want a cool EV, i’ll buy a two-year-old $85k Audi Etron for $30k because that’s what depreciation does to EVs.
They’re not just touching 50k, they’re blasting right past it.
The Odyssey hasn’t been redesigned since 2018 when it’s starting MSRP was a little under 31k. Now just 6 years later it’s at 42k. That’s a massive increase in a short period of time, regardless of inflation. Naturally, it’s come down to manufacturers eliminating base and value trims. For that, I hope they eat shit.
It’s really mind-boggling for me. I grew up when minivans just started coming out and my parents bought a first generation Plymouth Voyager (and second, third, etc). In those days, these vans were solidly middle-class vehicles made for families and their budgets. I don’t understand how anyone can justify spending that kind of dough on a minivan nowadays. To justify a minivan as a family hauler, you need to have 4+ in the family, and that makes stomaching $50 or 60k for a new vehicle basically impossible unless you make over $200k a year. Last time I checked, there aren’t a lot of people doing that in this country.
I bought a used ’20 Voyager last year for 21k with 60k on it. Assuming it continues to perform well (it has) that will end up being a decent deal.
But if I was forced to replace it with something new? Christ, there’s no way I could afford a new van right now. And god forbid if we ended up with another kid I’d probably have to (ironically) sell it to pay for daycare.
I understand that our family it’s exactly at the top of the foodchain when it comes to income, but geez, I didn’t expect to stuggle to afford van payments in my mid to late 30’s.
Wow, I guess we have wildly different opinions on what a deal is.
Ha, yes, I’m not exactly stoked about 21k for a minivan with 60k on it. But compared to the typical 30k for the same mileage used Odysseys at the time, it was a massive difference.
Everything is relative.
You get everything you’d really want in an electric family hauler and absolutely nothing you’d want in a cute throwback to the fun, barebones, air-cooled ‘dubs of yore.
Cool.
It looks like it was originally supposed to be an UP-based city car for Japan but somebody screwed up the scale in the press photos. So now it’s over two tons curbweight and being sold to suburban housewives who normally “must have the same SUV as Chrystal next door…but in white!”.
Maybe this makes sense if the upcoming Mini Countryman EV is just not enough space for Kindererziehung. But barely.
Jesus christ, we’re at the point now where $61K for something like this “ain’t too bad”? We’re doomed.
It “ain’t too bad” when you write about it instead of paying for it. Like a 90 day prison term.
Sat in one at the auto show, loved it. Right sized, easy to get in and out, useable truck with the 3rd row up. Even willing to deal with the price, $60k starting was expected. 234 miles out of a 91kwh battery was not expected, that’s the deal killer right there. The range i was thinking in my head was about 280 miles, while still not great, it was acceptable.
The EPA needs to start tying rebates to miles per kWh. They already do it with MPG on petrol/diesel cars. Why these super inefficient electric cars get a pass is completely beyond me. 91 kWh is freaking massive and should indicate a comfortable 300+ mile range at minimum, especially for this outrageous price.
Current form the rebate is probably meant to get people into EVs, any EV. I think we’re a little bit away from limiting rebates to efficiency. Similar to the carpool lane sticker, as hybrids became more mainstream, cars eligible to the sticker changed.
The Buzz isn’t eligible for the rebate anyways.
Also to follow up on the range, 234 is perfectly fine for a daily commuter, people hauling for a few days. I have an EV and my range isn’t much better than that. It’s just on road trips is where you start feeling it. I live in CA where charging is readily available, sometimes finding a working charger is rough. We’re a few years away from chargers being available to meet demands, don’t need fast chargers everywhere, but more slow chargers at hotels or places where people will be for a few hours like museums, beach, national parks.
But getting rich people into massive, heavy, and inefficient EVs is a bad use of taxpayer money and doesn’t help the environment. Getting regular people who need the financial help into small, efficient EVs is a good use of taxpayer money and good for the environment.
The problem with the ID/Buzz isn’t with the range. 234 miles is indeed fine for most people. The problem is with the efficiency. With a 91 kWh battery and 234 miles of alleged range, that is, at best, less than 2.6 kWh per mile. In the real world, I suspect it will be even worse.
For reference, the Tesla Model S gets around 5 kWh/mile. The ID.Buzz is getting about half the range per kWh as a car that has been out for over 10 years. That is unacceptable. We don’t rate petrol cars based on how many miles they can go on a tank – we rate them based on how many miles they can go per gallon of fuel. Why should EVs be any different?
The ID/Buzz should be able to go further with less battery. That huge battery is massively wasteful to produce and will result in a lot of difficult to recycle material when EOL.
The title is copium
Oh boy they’re gonna sell at least 30 of these slow, overpriced, 200mi range minivans. All of the cost of an EV without the pesky range or the fun-to-flaunt EV 0-60 times.
What a buzz kill! Glad I got my Tesla instead. That much money for MEB issues and a junk charging network is a non-starter here.
If VW had localized production to the US they probably could have knocked $10k off the price and made it eligible for a partial tax credit at least. Being made in Germany and needing to ship it here means this is lot poison once the influencers get their five minutes of fame from it.
Ooof is this thing is priced to fail. Cool? yes, but this is the long wheelbase model so people who buy on cool are going to be turned off from driving something needlessly large and people cross shopping regular vans aren’t going to give this thing a second look.
You have to love retro VW
Be a full scale EV believer
have people to move around, but not too far
AND cash to burn.
Talk about your niche markets.
So, Seattle, Portland, LA, SF.
I’m with you, 234 miles is laughable at this point, VW is insane, but that niche market is a LOT larger than you might think it is.
Now, Rivian already is on the way to capturing that market for sure, but I think they’re gonna move a fair chunk of these things.
200ish miles of range for a minivan is quite terrible, but then again the whole entire current generation of iD lineup is just bad in every way. For context a base model F150 lightning costing $62k gets 240 miles of range and the Flash model at 68k gets 320 miles of range. You can’t roadtrip this thing anywhere
Yup, and the Lightnings all come with standard AWD, and qualify for the $7500 federal tax credit. The Buzz is trading on nostalgia and is maybe eye-catching (although I’m not really feeling the look), but it too expensive
Not only that, but the Lightning is also selling substantially under sticker. This thing is dead on arrival unless they discount it massively.
The 230 miles would sadly make this a non-starter. We use our vans for road trips, and while I do think there are a lot of great use cases for EVs, road trips are the one where at least for now EVs can fall short.
A Pacifica PHEV tops out at ~$60k and they’re pretty nice inside. It does lack the style of the VW, but if you’re practical minded (which I think is the case for a lot of van shoppers – hence the reason they’re even considering them) the Pacifica is really the much better buy.
I also just found out VW isn’t putting heat pumps in their EVs so that 230 miles is definitely going to drop below 190 in winter conditions. Jeez talk about shooting yourself in the foot
How big is this thing? For some reason the proportions have me split between thinking it’s huge and thinking it’s tiny.
Let’s see, a VW, a KIA or a Toyota. Burn, pass, daily.
“At $61,545 And Overall, That Ain’t Too Bad”
Yes it is. Its very very bad.This is a $35k van.
Was kinda thinking about this as an option for the soon to be expanding family. Boy was I shocked seeing that price. Hahahaha…. not a chance VW, not a chance.
Yikes. I was hoping for a lower starting price and AWD available on the base model. The fact that AWD isn’t even an option on the base model, and then when the option is applied it forces captains chairs for the second row, is a non-starter for it replacing our current minivan. That, and the absurd price.
if you’re comparing it only against other EVs it is competitively priced, and the range issues don’t matter.
but every new EV has the same problem.
problem is, it’s not a vacuum, there are other vehicles worth considering, and as a minivan, this thing is overpriced, the best optioned Honda Odyssey is only $50,000 and is similarly featured in seating and capacity. considering the headline says that the VW STARTS at $60,000, I’m guessing the quality of the interior will not compare at all with the top of the line Odyssey interior. the Kia Carnival and Toyota Sienna are similar stories. top line model is $50k.
and then you consider the issue of range, people have minivans to get to and from soccer practice, and to load up on Costco toilet paper, but they are also used as a road trip vehicle, no way I’m doing a road trip in a vehicle that requires 30 minutes just to get 150 miles of range. thanks, but no.
absolutely, these will sell, but they will sell to a specific market, the overall market isn’t interested.
but think of all the fun you and your entire family will have every 150 miles at the charging station…
Makin’ memories.
Dad, remember that time we went on a road trip and couldn’t quite get to the desitination? I have to say the 4.5 hours we spent as a family at the charging stations was what made it all worthwhile. Thanks for nothing, Dad, next time buy a real van.
Umm family of all girls, we WILL be stopping ever 120 miles for at least 20 min… not really a problem here.
I feel you on that. We stop every 2 hours on road trips, because I know someone has to go to the bathroom by then. The problem is finding a charger at every stop.
Appreciate the laugh.
Carry on.
The problem is that this is hitting the market -at least- two years too late. The bloom is off the rose for EV’s. As usual with novelty cars this will sell well for the first year as attention-seekers snap them up, but after everyone who ‘just has to have one’ buys one, these will be clogging up a corner in the showroom.*
https://electrek.co/2024/07/10/volkswagens-ev-troubles-deepen-possible-audi-plant-closure/
Oof, I figured the range would suffer but a little over 200 miles with normal use isn’t great. Over $60k for that experience? Yeah, I’m good. I’ll go check out an Ultium platform first.
What part of the Ultium history has convinced you that it will be any better than this on price or performance? IMO it has failed to live up to the GM hype so far.
Every review of a Blazer, Equinox, and Lyriq has been pretty good so far. Beyond a few first year GM product issues, I’ve been pretty impressed with what GM has put on the market. 300+ miles of range in the Blazer with over 300hp, with 190kw DC fast charging ticks almost all my boxes. I plan on test driving one next month when I have some free time.
Honestly, I’d be a Mach E buyer if the car wasn’t so ugly and they fixed the rear suspension bounce that I and plenty of owners have noted when driving.
God, what a tremendous disappointment this is. It’s bad enough that minivans have gone from standard middle class family vehicle fare to unattainable for most families. But at 65k+ (I’m not even going to pretend the greyscale base model exists, VW you should be ashamed) it’s DOA. Seriously, who other than a handful of shitty influencers and a couple of faux hippie boomers are going to buy this thing?
It sucks because I genuinely want to like it, it’s a van, it’s electric, and I had hope for this as a product. But as the years passed, it became more and more obvious it was going to disappoint. It’s a great representation of everything I hate about the modern car market; eyewateringly expensive yet somehow worse at it’s intended use than vans of years past. Cool.
if they could sell it as a cargo van for anything near $35k then it would be great for an around town work van.
Oh absolutely. And I’m not as mad as I am about the range as I am about the price.
The number of options people have in the 60k-80k range now is just staggering.
Just because pricing is typical, it isn’t necessarily good. They had the opportunity to price this low and have a potential sales hit. Now, it will sell a few oddball examples, probably have a major VW quality lapse(s), and quickly fade to a cancelled-too-soon obscurity. GM and VW should get married!
But they really didn’t have the option to price it low because it just costs so much to make it. GM has the same problem with their EVs. They are just not very efficient at making EVs yet and have decided that the positive press and investments for having a hit is not worth taking a loss on them.
You forgot the part where software updates can only be done at the dealer and only through the OBD2 port at 90s data transfer speeds. Since this is a VW product you’ll do it 4-5 times a year and that’s assuming you don’t go to the dealer for the well known steering wheel or battery module problems.
Ahh, the full Volkswagen experience!
Is it really a quality lapse if the quality never existed in the first place?
The average price of a new full size pickup is very near 70K and most commuters on I-75 seem to favor them. Then, on weekends, the pickup is driven “Up North” hauling all of two passengers and two bicycles.
Two bicycles!? Need to get the diesel then.
Pricey? Yeah.
Low Range? For an EV, kinda, I guess.
Does it stop me from wanting one? Nah.
Agreed. But would you actually spend money on one? I love it, but that’s too rich for my blood.
If I could, I would, honestly.
Between its’ 2010 EV numbers and 1999 styling, I have to wonder if VW missed the moment with its’ endless teasing and dithering on this.
$77.5k base price for us up in Canada. $83k if you’re spinning all 4.
OOF. I can buy a Lightning with more range for 10k less off a dealer lot RIGHT NOW.
Does it seat 9?
Much more than 9. You can fit about 20 in the back
Not related to this discussion really, but does this notification system work correctly for you guys? It showed I had some notificaitons, but when I clicked the bell, it was empty. And not the first time, and presto, here’s some replies :/.
Not working right for me either.
Admittedly, the notification/commenting system is a bit buggy sometimes. I’ll see what our dev team can do!
Would also nice to see old comments one has posted somewhere. and/or history of replies somewhere. Especially as this notification system is a bit hit&miss.
When I have two notifications, and I click on the first one and read it, then come back and click on the bell and the second one is gone. C’mon guys this is 2024 not AOL on CD ROMs.
Ongoing problem with this for about a year or more now. Sucks, right?
Last time I checked, the ID Buzz only seats a max of 7. So I’m not sure what relevance your question has.
If I needed 7 seats, there are cheaper EVs as well.
I have been trying for years, but can not locate the “retro” in this thing. In what way does it evoke classic VW Buses?
It’s a van from VW. It has available two tone paint and a VW badge on the front.
That’s all it needs in the US. We haven’t seen a new van at a VW dealership in 20 years.
This is Routan Erasure!
(2009 was 15 years ago? damn…)
I should have said we haven’t seen a new VW-Built van at VW dealerships.