These days, Volkswagen is betting big on its electric future, with the Wolfsburg-based giant having just begun production of its ID.4 crossover at the U.S. Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. But while the SUV may be aimed at a somewhat more reserved audience, the next model to join the North American lineup is likely to stir up passions.
In fact, the ID. Buzz, which is already available in Europe. Here in Canada, the friendly electric van is eagerly awaited by fans of the popular German brand. Volkswagen released some additional information this week that the ID. Buzz GTX variant will be the performance-oriented model, as well as an image showing the seating arrangement on board the European version (short wheelbase).
Here, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz will instead be based on a stretched version of the same platform. Volkswagen didn’t make an official announcement, but instead showed a few images during a presentation of the commercial vehicle division, the ID. Buzz, which is also part of this branch of the brand, since it will be available in a cargo version on the other side of the ocean.
As for the GTX livery, Volkswagen merely showed the flat-bottomed steering wheel base, but it’s fair to speculate on the power of this variant since Volkswagen’s two electric crossovers, the ID. 4 and ID. 5, are already available with GTX badging. In these two more powerful variants, the pair of electric motors reach 295 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque, while the theoretical range (according to the WLTP cycle) climbs to 512 km in the ID. 5 GTX, the more aerodynamic of the two SUVs.
We can therefore imagine that the manufacturer will use the same powertrain for the more dynamic variant of the retro van. In fact, the image showing the extra length of the van also indicates that the vehicle will be equipped with all-wheel drive, which should in principle guarantee the presence of the pair of electric motors used in the GTX liveries of the two compact SUVs, unless Volks intends to offer a slightly less powerful powertrain for the regular electric van liveries.
As a reminder, the ID. Buzz won’t arrive in North America until 2024, so we’ll have to be patient for a little over a year before we see the first copies of the vehicle on the North American continent.
