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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It would have been cheaper to just buy Canoo straight up AND end up with a better product.
And that front valance pattern? 2006 called and they want their design fad back.
That’s really fucking expensive. I wonder if VW paints a bullseye on its d*ck before it starts shooting or just lets ‘er rip…
Yeah my interest in this thing just went straight to zero after seeing those numbers.
It’s not a good deal for the price and the automotive media should stop saying it is as that just normalizes it. 60k for a minivan with no rear window buttons is a bad deal. 60k for an EV that can’t go 250 miles is a bad deal.
It should fail in the market and VW should try harder.
That doesn’t look like a $60,000 interior. :/
I don’t hate it, but that 234 miles of range is BAD for a brand new EV. They should have done whatever was necessary to hit the 300 mile range mark.
looks great. but damn whys it so expensive and such crap mileage.