There’s a lot to love about the 2025 VW ID Buzz electric van, but not its battery range
The 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz may look a bit like a flower child’s midlife crisis on wheels, but the new electric minivan is a lot more than a Grateful Dead tribute act.
The Buzz isn’t rehashing somebody else’s hits, it marches to a new beat: a completely new vehicle with more charm than a boxful of kittens, looks that can’t help but inspire smiles, and a host of thoughtful design touches.
It’s also the first fully electric minivan, which I wouldn’t have guessed was a vehicle people were waiting for.
Until I spent a day driving the Buzz.
Full disclosure: My exposure to the Buzz began driving from down San Francisco’s automotive Mobius strip — the infinitely twisty Lombard Street — and continued around the city, across the Golden Gate Bridge, into the Marin headlands and beyond.
If there’s a place that’s the vehicle's native habitat, that’s it. Vintage VW Microbuses are as common in the North Bay as tie-dye and headbands.
The ID Buzz is much more than a nostalgia act, though. It’s by far VW’s best EV yet, a practical, fun package that could be a hit, despite a regrettably limited driving range on a full charge.
Long before buyers get to that level of detail, most will be charmed by the Buzz’s looks, particularly that bright and cheerful two-tone combination that complements the huge VW badge on its nose for a look that could be directly lifted from smiley-face cartoon vehicles.
VW ID Buzz trim levels and prices
Pro S RWD: $59,995
Pro S Plus RWD: $63,495
Pro S Plus 4Motion: $67,995
1st Edition RWD: $65,495
1st Edition AWD: $69,995
Source: Volkswagen. Prices exclude $1,550 destination charge.
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What is it? How big?
The ID Buzz is based on the MEB platform that underpins other VW electric vehicles, like the ID 4 midsize SUV. The name apparently comes from combining "ID," VW’s prefix for its EVs, with Buzz, an apparent reference to electric power. As people used to say about David Hasselhoff, it’s big in Germany.
As is also true of David Hasselhoff’s singing, that works in Germany.
VW imports the ID Buzz from Hanover, where it also builds a smaller, five-passenger version sized for European streets and a commercial cargo van for businesses.
In America, VW will position the Buzz as a halo vehicle that sets the tone for its whole lineup in terms of design, technology, practicality, safety and efficiency.
The U.S. version has three rows of seats and holds six or seven people, depending on whether the second row has a bench or captain’s chairs.
How much?
The base model has rear-wheel drive, just like the original 1950 rear-engine gasoline-powered VW Microbus. The base Pro S model only comes with RWD and stickers at $59,995.
VW’s 4Motion AWD system adds a front motor for a hefty $4,500 on the Pro S Plus and 1St Edition models. The 1st Edition pulls out all the stops coming with standard two-tone paint, 14-speaker Harman Kardon audio, dimmable electrochromic sunroof, 20-inch wheels and more.
I drove a loaded 1st Edition AWD that stickered at $69,995 and a $63,495 RWD Pro S Plus on a cool foggy day. All prices exclude a $1,550 destination charge.
ID Buzz prices are well above minivans, but competitive with the other three-row EV currently on the market, the Kia EV9. The Volvo E90, expected to go on sale later this year, starts thousands of dollars higher.
Max room in a minimalist package
The ID Buzz is supremely space efficient. At 195.4 inches long, it’s about 2 inches shorter than a Kia EV9 SUV and 10 inches shorter than a Chrysler Pacifica minivan, a pair of three-row vehicles that could be seen as competitors.
The Buzz has more cargo space behind its front seats than a Chevy Suburban, an SUV that’s a whopping 30.3 inches longer. That "bigger-on-the inside" trick is among the Buzz’s signature similarities to the Microbus, a low-powered, low-tech, marginally comfortable vehicle that helped cement VW’s first impression in the United States.
The interior design is clean and spare. Equipped with it dimmable full-length glass roof, the Buzz has 163.7 cubic feet of passenger space, a negligible 1.7 cubic feet less than the Pacifica.
Features, tech and comfort
The interior is roomy and comfortable. The front two rows of my test vehicles featured captain’s chairs and plenty of storage.
The driver’s displays are hyper modern. The 5.3-inch instrument display mounted on the steering column is small, but effective. A 12.9-inch touch screen houses controls for climate navigation and most other functions. Touch points on the steering wheel manage volume, tuning, adaptive cruise setting and incidentals.
Visibility is excellent, thanks to big windows all around and a high seating position.
Entry is easy through the power sliding doors on either side.
The rear seat slides fore and aft and reclines for comfort. It’s also removable, though at around 60 pounds for each half, the job’s not for everyone.
When in place, a removable shelf creates a flat floor from tailgate nearly to the front seats.
Colored trim panels and piping complement the exterior colors.
Selected competitors
Chrysler Pacifica
Jeep Grand Cherokee L
Kia EV9
Hyundai Ioniq 9 (upcoming)
Mazda CX-90
Toyota Sienna
Volvo EX90
Driving impressions
The RWD version's single electric motor develops 282 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque. Adding a small front motor raises the AWD’s output to 335 hp and 99 pound-feet from the front axle 413 at the rear.
Both models accelerate confidently in both city and highway driving. Steering is direct, but felt a bit more responsive in the rear-drive model, perhaps because there’s less weight on its front axle.
Unlike most EVs, VW doesn’t offer one-pedal driving. The Buzz has two levels of regeneration. The base setting feels almost like lifting off the accelerator in an internal combustion vehicle. The higher levels increase deceleration considerably and I found it easy to modulate in traffic and on twisty country roads.
The Buzz’s wheels are pushed out to its corners. The RWD van’s turning radius is a tidy 37.4 feet. That grows to 42.7 feet with AWD, which has a 15.0:1 steering ratio versus the RWD’s 14.6:1.
The ID Buzz is quiet at highway speeds and smooth over rough surfaces.
There’s noticeable lean in quick curves, but the van holds the road through curves.
Available safety and driver assist features
Automatic high beams
Front pedestrian and bicycle detection
Lane keeping alert and assist
Adaptive cruise control
Head up display
Traffic sign recognition
Blind spot and rear cross traffic alert and assist
How far on a charge?
The van's 91 kWh battery delivers an EPA-estimated range of 234 miles for rear-drive models, 231 AWD. The difference is commendably small, but both figures are disappointing. There aren’t a lot of other three-row EVs, but those figures are well behind the Kia EV9’s EPA-rated max of 304 miles and Volvo EX90’s estimated 300.
The Buzz charges to 100% in 9 hours at 240 volts. It can accept up to 200 kW DC power, enough to go from 10% to 80% charge in 26 minutes.
2025 VW ID Buzz features
Rear- or all-wheel drive
Six or seven seats
Retractable trailer hitch
Available two-tone paint
Flat-folding second- and third-row seats
Removable third row seats
Wireless charging
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Harman Kardon 14-speaker audio12.-inch touch screen
12.9-inch touch screen
What could be better?
The Buzz perpetuates a maddening control that debuted on the VW ID 4: a driver’s-door gizmo that uses three buttons to control the four power windows. In pursuit of the imagined efficiency of one fewer pieces of plastic in the car, one button selects whether the other two control the front or rear windows. You have to find it and press it to adjust the rear windows. If you accidentally press it, then press one of the other switches, the rear window opens and closes when you want the front, or vice versa.
I never find that process easier or more intuitive than the nearly universal — Volvo’s new EVs copied VW. Ack! — layout of one switch for each window.
I also found myself wishing for a running board when entering and exiting the front doors. The van's very short front overhang creates a small — and, I found, inconvenient — place to step. It’s easy to enter through the side sliding side doors, but front-seat entry and egress felt awkward to me.
Why get a 2025 VW ID Buzz?
The Buzz’s adorable styling is its greatest strength, but VW’s new EV has plenty else going for it.
The minivan’s generous interior space makes it a very able people carrier, whether for growing families or groups of adults.
Both drivetrains deliver plenty of power. The Buzz accelerates confidently and has responsive handling. At home on city streets, highways and country roads, it also offers plenty of driver aids and safety systems.
If VW can convince SUV owners to swap their vehicles’ predictable profiles for the ID Buzz’s cheery and colorful appearance, the smiley electric van could be a hit.
2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz at a glance
Rear- or all-wheel drive six- or seven-seat electric minivan
Base price: $69,995 (All prices exclude $1,550 destination charge)
Model tested: ID Buzz 1st Edition AWD
Price as tested: $69,995 (Excluding destination charge)
Specifications as tested:
Powerplant: Front and rear electric motors
Total system output: 335 hp; 99 pound-feet of torque at front axle, 413 at rear
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
EPA estimated range: 231 miles
Charging time: 9 hours @ 240v; 10-80% in 26 minutes @ 200kWh.
Wheelbase: 127.5 inches
Length: 195.4 inches
Width: 78.1 inches
Height: 76.2 inches
Ground clearance: 6.3 inches
Passenger volume: 163.7 cubic feet
Cargo volume: 18.6 cubic feet behind rear seat; 75.5 seat folded;1 45.5 behind front seat
Curb weight: 6,197 pounds
Assembled in Hanover, Germany
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.This story has been updated to add video.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: VW's smiley ID Buzz EV van got nearly everything right. Except this.