Volkswagen has confirmed that both the ID Buzz people-mover and ID Buzz Cargo commercial van will be coming to Australia, but is yet to provide an exact date.
The brand’s local arm confirmed to Chasing Cars that Australian-allocated production would commence before the end of 2024. With this in mind, it’s likely that they will land either in late 2024, or early 2025.
The ID Buzz is available in both people mover and Cargo forms
Once on sale in Australia, it’s likely that the ID Buzz will face competition from other electric vans such as the Mercedes-Benz eVito, the Ford E-Transit, and the LDV Mifa 9.
Speaking on the confirmation of the electric people mover, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles director Ryan Davies sounded confident that the ID Buzz will put up some impressive sales numbers.
“It’s an incredible blend of style and function that will capture the imagination of Australians – and is reflected by our ambitious sales volumes,” Davies said.
The ID Buzz Cargo is very industrial inside
“We expect the ID Buzz Cargo to sell at least as well, and it’s incredibly appealing for sole traders who want to reduce their emissions in the most fun way possible. This is a proper, from the ground up tradies’ BEV – not a tacked on reverse-engineering of an existing diesel vehicle,” he added.
ID Buzz to be priced 20 to 30 percent higher than current Multivan
Though Volkswagen Australia is yet to reveal any details regarding the pricing of these vans, late last year Davies gave an indication at the brand’s year ahead event.
When asked if the ID Buzz will follow industry trends of getting a 20 to 30 per cent price increase as an EV over its ICE counterpart, Davies seemed confident that this would be the case.
Two-tone paint is optional with the ID Buzz
Using this logic, if the Volkswagen ID Buzz comes in at a 25 percent premium over the current Multivan at $70,000, this would mean that the EV van would be priced at $87,500.
Two variants likely to share single powertrain
At that same ‘year ahead’ event last year, Volkswagen Australia had both the high-grade ID Buzz Pro passenger variant and ID Buzz Cargo on display.
Despite having very different roles to fill in the market, both the ID Buzz Pro and Cargo are expected to be launched with a single powertrain option.
A single motor on the rear axle drives the ID Buzz in its current form
This consists of a 77kWh battery that powers a single electric motor on the rear axle which produces 150kW and 310Nm.
In terms of range, both models that were displayed are rated to 410km according to the WLTP testing cycle, and can be charged at a maximum DC rate of up to 175kW.
