The ID.Buzz is the first van that was actually developed as an electric car. His shape and charisma are very striking thanks to his bloodline (T1 ff). The archetype of the campervan, the VW T1 has been presented as an e-van for some time. There has never been a test as a campervan.
We have now been able to test the ID.Buzz for its campervan capabilities, and this is possible with a furniture module from Ququq. Without a module, but the folded seats give an idea of its suitability for camping. Incidentally, the ID.Buzz is said to be available from 45,740 euros.
The ID.Buzz will therefore play an enormous role as a campervan. Because even if the demand for a bus with an electric drive has not been particularly euphoric up to now, this is likely to change with the VW ID.Buzz. After all, it is the real E-Bulli, the vehicle par excellence for van life, road trips and hip camper conversions. Basic information on the ID.Buzz is available here.
When is the ID.Buzz California coming?
Timo Grosshans
So far, the ID.Buzz has only been available as a car (and as a cargo), not as a Cali.
But the future of the Camper-ID.Buzz is still unknown. And it will not be immediately available to every customer in the form they would like. Because: According to VW, there won’t be an ID.Buzz California any time soon. However, the strategy here is not entirely transparent, or in other words, there is no official one yet.
This does not necessarily speak for a clear strategy, apart from public comment. Because even if the board of directors wanted a VW ID.Buzz California, as is well known: There was none at the last VW vehicle presentation and there will be none in the years to come.
The ID.Buzz as a campervan with Ququq furniture
Timo Grosshans
With a furniture module from Ququq, prospective ID.Buzz users receive storage space, a kitchen and a bed.
But, that doesn’t have to be bad. Because at exactly this presentation there was another ID.Buzz – namely one with a camping box from Ququq. So a folding module that you put in the car afterwards. Then a bed can be folded over the folded benches, coffee and spaghetti can be made under the tailgate and Pippi can be made with the urine-diverting toilet or Porta Potti. VW has recently been selling the Ququq modules for its own vans. We reported about it here.
It is almost certain that other suppliers of such furniture modules will soon jump on it and turn the ID.Buzz into the most modern, sustainable camper currently available. These are all those who are in vanlife fever, own design campers or want to expand them themselves, only want to use one vehicle and also want to be on the road with as few emissions as possible.
Quick conversion to an e-camper
Timo Grosshans
With a batik cloth there is a hippie feeling in the ID.Buzz. On the surface in the rear you can sit with quite good headroom.
The ID.Buzz can be transformed into a hippie bus astonishingly quickly right from the factory. You hardly need any accessories to go camping with it. All you have to do is fold down the rear seats and there is a mezzanine floor that forms one level with the backrests.
It is also important, because the charging cable for the vehicle battery is housed in this intermediate floor, and you need it to charge up with electricity. If you add a topper or even a mattress, you’ll sleep well and the headroom isn’t that bad. With the solutions with the camping boxes, it gets tighter at the top.
Pop-up roof for the VW ID.Buzz?
Also when it comes to pop-up roofs, you won’t have to wait for VW. Roof manufacturers like Reimo are already on it. They are currently developing pop-up roofs for the vehicle and there will likely be something on the market by 2023. Others will surely follow suit.
Properly converted buses, as we know them today, for example a Reimo Trio Style ID.Buzz, will not be available any time soon, because the ID.Buzz is not easy to convert into a camper van. That will take years. The Reimo Trio Style can be seen here based on the T6.
Why is expansion so difficult?
Timo Grosshans
The double floor in the ID.Buzz is not intended for camping installations, but in cars for charging cables, for example.
Today’s battery electrics and vehicle electronics simply do not allow for expansion. The problem areas are: auxiliary heating, cooking without gas, cooler with compressor technology. Then: You don’t like an electric camper with gas. (Although the shyness may still fall here.)
The problem is that you are not allowed to get close to the battery’s high-voltage electronics. That would be useful. Simply draw the power for heating with ceramic fans, for the cool box and other consumers from the battery. But that is forbidden. But you don’t have to overestimate that, there will be technical solutions. Just not from the start of the model.
Look and feel in the ID.Buzz
Timo Grosshans
The tester likes the details of the interior.
The ID.Buzz itself is already iconic. Its design is much more mature, much more playful than you can see on pictures. In live he is super personable. Totally thought through. Any fears of witnessing a loveless van made on T1 with a bit of marketing makeup are over.
There will be an official driving report for the “Bulli-e” or “E-Bulli” from September 7, 2022. One can already say that the design of the cockpits alone is surprisingly successful. Mostly because there is also a cargo in addition to the car.
Timo Grosshans
The ID.Buzz in the cargo version.
And that’s a balancing act that the developers have to stretch, and it can hurt. But, as you can see here, you don’t have to. On the one hand, the demands of the urban van life generation mentioned above are served, and on the other hand, the ID.Buzz should also be a T – a transporter. And the impression in the Handwerker-ID.Buzz is great. Large shelves, nothing looks cheap or somehow unloving, yet robust and practical. Compartments for mobile phones, for drinks, for the snack box, for the orders, everything is there.
In the car there is fine artificial leather, without animals, just as everything wants to be CO₂-neutral in some way. What it isn’t will be compensated for, VW wants to plant trees or something similar for that.
USB-C connector, illuminated, and cute shelves, framed in tactilely pleasant surfaces. The design has been radically modernized. Screens and their positioning are no longer random in the car, but clearly positioned there and fitted in such a way, for the eye and with the necessary materials, that it finally looks like it was made from one piece.
Technical data ID.Buzz
Conclusion
Passers-by laugh and point their finger at the ID.Buzz. Open the tailgate and gently put your body inside. Overlooking the sea. In this picture we stay, here on the beach, until September 7th, then we get behind the wheel together for the first time and start roaming. Electric, pure, soft, pure. How does it drive, the first electric van that was built as such?
Until then we enjoy the view of the bay and watch the kiters. The future will come one way or another.
Tags: ID .Buzz furniture module ecampervan
