Term
Initial payment (months)
Electric
Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo
150kW Commerce 77kWh Auto
3.00 tonnes
Weight
0.68 tonnes
Payload
356 miles
Range
--- metres
Load length
1.33 metres
Load height
1.22 metres
Load width
Leasing this van includes.
Manufacturers warranty
In the event of an unexpected mechanical issue, you're all covered!
Road tax
That's right, all deals include road tax. No hassle. No fuss. No fees.
Breakdown cover
Just in case worst comes to worst. You'll never be left stranded.
- Overview
- Specification
- Charging & range
90 mph
Top speed
204 bhp
Power
10.2 secs
0-62
--- kWh
Battery size
356 miles
Range
0-80 mins
Charging time
Electric
Fuel
Rear Wheel Drive
Drive-train
Key features.
- Wooden floor covering in load compartment
- Driver and front passenger airbags
- Anti-theft alarm system, interior monitoring in cab, back-up horn and towing protection
- PAS
- Single driver seat with manual height adjustment
0
City.
257 mi.
Combined
Main road.
245 mi.
Low
256 mi.
High
Combined.
356 mi.
High
Charging.
Standard and fast charging available
Charging port location.
True Front.
Charging port
True Front.
Fast charging port
Battery.
N kWh.
Battery capacity
70 kWh.
Battery useable
Charging times.
Between 0 - 0
Charge times.
NaN hr NaN min
Rapid charger (30kW)/(N%)
NaN hr NaN min
Rapid charger (450kW)/(170%)
0 hr 0 min
Rapid charger (204kW)/(N1%)
How much is it to insure?
Compare insurance quotes for this Volkswagen ID.Buzz.
With our compadres at Comparethemarket.
Sell your van the Motorway way
We have teamed up with our amigos at Motorway
No more hassle selling your old van to get you in your brand new Volkswagen ID.Buzz sooner.
Volkswagen ID.Buzz review.
Volkswagen delivers a very different kind of LCV with this ID.Buzz Cargo. Jonathan Crouch briefs you on it.
Ten second review.
There's never been a van quite like Volkswagen's ID.Buzz Cargo. There are more practical EV commercial vehicles in the class, but nothing remotely as eye-catching. It's a completely different interpretation of what a medium sized LCV can be.
Background.
Did you ever imagine that your company's medium-sized van would ever look like this? The styling of this Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo might be retro (based on the brand's classic T1 van) but its engineering is decidedly future-orientated. As the name suggests, it's the van version of the ID.Buzz MPV passenger-carrying model. And, like all ID models, it's fully electric and based on the Wolfsburg conglomerate's advanced MEB full-battery platform. Volkswagen doesn't suggest this to be the most practical mid-sized EV van you could choose; it isn't. But the brand will contend that this is the most car-like LCV in its class. And, crucially, the model with the longest EV driving range. Sounds promising.
Design and Build.
Did you ever think your company would get the chance to run a medium-sized van looking like the ID.Buzz Cargo? Probably not. It seems a contradiction in terms for an LCV to prioritise style over boxy practicality but that's what we've got here and you'll either think it ridiculous or charming: there'll be no in-betweens. Volkswagen is only offering this standard 4,712mm long body shape. Which is annoying because the People Carrier version of this design is also available with a long wheelbase platform which would have suited this van version much better. That body length places the ID.Buzz between standard and long wheelbase versions of vans in the class below. Citroen's e-Berlingo, for instance, is 4,403mm-long in standard form and 4,753mm-long in long wheelbase XL guise. A typical medium-sized EV van (like, say, a Citroen e-Dispatch) would usually be just under 5-metres long in its most usual standard form. Inside this Volkswagen, it's all much higher quality than you'd normally find in an LCV cab. Though not quite as nice as the ID.Buzz MPV because that model's lighter coloured plastics and brighter upholstery are replaced by darker, more practical shades here. That MPV model's 'Play' and 'Pause'-branded pedals are replaced by conventional items too. There's a three-seat cab layout, with the driver's seat heated. You sit quite high with a wide view through the vast windscreen. The high-mounted minimalist dashboard is unique and houses a 5.3-inch digital instrument display and a 10-inch centre touchscreen. The auto gear lever is on the steering column.
Market and Model.
Prices from launch started from around £43,500 (ex VAT) for the entry-level 'Commerce' version, with the better-equipped 'Commerce Plus' version costing from around £48,500 (ex VAT). Both prices are after deduction of the government's £5,000 Plug-in Van Grant. To give you some idea, grant-deducted prices for typical mid-sized EV vans these days start from around £35,000-£40,000 (eg Fiat E-Scudo), about £5,000 more than the cheapest grant-deducted price for a long wheelbase version of an EV van in the class below (eg Citroen e-Berlingo XL). Either of those two cheaper LCV class alternatives would give you more carriage space than this Volkswagen. Still, at least it's well equipped. Even the base 'Commerce' ID.Buzz variant comes with a heated driver's seat, cruise control with a speed limiter and 'Intelligent Speed Assist', an anti-theft alarm system and Volkswagen's 'App-Connect' smartphone-mirroring set-up including 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'. Stretch to the plusher 'Commerce Plus' version and you'll also be treated to a rear view camera, a heated windscreen, Adaptive Cruise Control and an 'Intelligent Park Assist' system that automatically steers this van into spaces. Media provision at this level is enhanced by a 'Discover Pro' infotainment system with navigation built into the standard model's 10-inch screen, plus a wireless version of the 'App-Connect' system. A key option with both variants is the 'Buzz Box' compartment, which hinges down from the base of the dash, revealing a couple of cup holders, a bottle opener and an ice scraper. You can specify powered sliding side doors too. With both versions, you get autonomous emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection. And you can optionally add Volkswagen's clever 'Travel Assist' system, which can help to keep you in lane, while maintaining the distance to the vehicle in front and the maximum speed you've set. 'Travel Assist' adapts to your driving style and can also adjust your driving position further to the left or further to the right in your own lane instead of being exactly in the middle.
Cost of Ownership.
Those retro looks do entail practical limitations and sure enough, the elephant in the room here is carriage space. The 3.9m3 cargo capacity is well below par for the medium-sized van sector that this Volkswagen's body length and price suggests this ID.Buzz Cargo should compete in. It's more like (but still a bit below) the kind of cargo area capacity you'd expect from a long wheelbase version of the more compact EV van from the class below (a long wheelbase Renault Kangoo E-Tech, for instance, offers 4.2m3). Boxier medium-sized EV vans in the next class up typically take around 6m3 of capacity (the Ford Transit E-Custom for instance, takes between 5.8m3 and 9.0m3, depending on body shape). This ID.Buzz Cargo model won't ever be able to match that because Volkswagen refuses to offer it in the long wheelbase body shape you can have with the MPV Buzz version. Even in this standard form though, this model has enough floor space to fit two euro pallets inside. It's the high positioning of the floor that limits capacity. The payload is well down on what you'd get from rivals too (607kg with base 'Commerce' trim). As we told you in our 'Driving' section, the EV range is an easily class-leading 256 miles from the 77kWh battery (gross capacity 82kWh). You'll want to know about charging, which with either variant takes place using a Type 2 connector and works via an on-board charger with a maximum power of 11kW. This replenishes the battery from empty to full in about twelve and a quarter hours from a normal 7.4kW garage wall box. You can reduce that to about eight and a quarter hours if you happen to have a three-phase grid connection. But if you simply plug-in using a regular domestic plug, you're looking at charging taking 39 hours and 30 minutes. If you're out and about and find a rapid charger, you can use that thanks to the provided CCS connection. The maximum rapid charge power is rated at 175kW, but in an average charging session, the charging power will be at about 115kW, which replenishes the battery from 10 to 80% in about half an hour. Such a rapid charge will give you about 140 miles of driving range. Finally, there's the warranty. Volkswagens cars are limited to a three year/60,000 mile warranty package, but with a Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle (which is what all ID. Buzz models are classed as), the mileage limit in this period is raised from 60,000 to 100,000 miles. There's also three years of pan-European Roadside Assistance also included with no mileage restriction. The paintwork warranty lasts for three years and the ID. Buzz Cargo is protected by a 12-year anti-corrosion body warranty.
Summary.
So, style over substance? Well it depends what you mean by 'substance'. Yes, the Buzz Cargo's load bay is small by the standards of the medium-sized van segment, but this Volkswagen fights back with a more complete specification than most mid-sized EV van models; and a much higher electric driving range. Plus there's its eye-catching style: nothing else you could choose in this class will get people looking at your company's van anything like as much. Further incentives here lie with the fact that this Volkswagen is the most car-like model in its sector to drive - and to sit in. Plus it will keep its value better than anything else in the segment. But is all that enough to overcome the practicality downside? If it is, you'll enjoy running one of these.
There's never been a van quite like Volkswagen's ID.Buzz Cargo. There are more practical EV commercial vehicles in the class, but nothing remotely as eye-catching. It's a completely different interpretation of what a medium sized LCV can be.
Did you ever imagine that your company's medium-sized van would ever look like this? The styling of this Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo might be retro (based on the brand's classic T1 van) but its engineering is decidedly future-orientated. As the name suggests, it's the van version of the ID.Buzz MPV passenger-carrying model. And, like all ID models, it's fully electric and based on the Wolfsburg conglomerate's advanced MEB full-battery platform. Volkswagen doesn't suggest this to be the most practical mid-sized EV van you could choose; it isn't. But the brand will contend that this is the most car-like LCV in its class. And, crucially, the model with the longest EV driving range. Sounds promising.
Did you ever think your company would get the chance to run a medium-sized van looking like the ID.Buzz Cargo? Probably not. It seems a contradiction in terms for an LCV to prioritise style over boxy practicality but that's what we've got here and you'll either think it ridiculous or charming: there'll be no in-betweens. Volkswagen is only offering this standard 4,712mm long body shape. Which is annoying because the People Carrier version of this design is also available with a long wheelbase platform which would have suited this van version much better. That body length places the ID.Buzz between standard and long wheelbase versions of vans in the class below. Citroen's e-Berlingo, for instance, is 4,403mm-long in standard form and 4,753mm-long in long wheelbase XL guise. A typical medium-sized EV van (like, say, a Citroen e-Dispatch) would usually be just under 5-metres long in its most usual standard form. Inside this Volkswagen, it's all much higher quality than you'd normally find in an LCV cab. Though not quite as nice as the ID.Buzz MPV because that model's lighter coloured plastics and brighter upholstery are replaced by darker, more practical shades here. That MPV model's 'Play' and 'Pause'-branded pedals are replaced by conventional items too. There's a three-seat cab layout, with the driver's seat heated. You sit quite high with a wide view through the vast windscreen. The high-mounted minimalist dashboard is unique and houses a 5.3-inch digital instrument display and a 10-inch centre touchscreen. The auto gear lever is on the steering column.
Prices from launch started from around £43,500 (ex VAT) for the entry-level 'Commerce' version, with the better-equipped 'Commerce Plus' version costing from around £48,500 (ex VAT). Both prices are after deduction of the government's £5,000 Plug-in Van Grant. To give you some idea, grant-deducted prices for typical mid-sized EV vans these days start from around £35,000-£40,000 (eg Fiat E-Scudo), about £5,000 more than the cheapest grant-deducted price for a long wheelbase version of an EV van in the class below (eg Citroen e-Berlingo XL). Either of those two cheaper LCV class alternatives would give you more carriage space than this Volkswagen. Still, at least it's well equipped. Even the base 'Commerce' ID.Buzz variant comes with a heated driver's seat, cruise control with a speed limiter and 'Intelligent Speed Assist', an anti-theft alarm system and Volkswagen's 'App-Connect' smartphone-mirroring set-up including 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'. Stretch to the plusher 'Commerce Plus' version and you'll also be treated to a rear view camera, a heated windscreen, Adaptive Cruise Control and an 'Intelligent Park Assist' system that automatically steers this van into spaces. Media provision at this level is enhanced by a 'Discover Pro' infotainment system with navigation built into the standard model's 10-inch screen, plus a wireless version of the 'App-Connect' system. A key option with both variants is the 'Buzz Box' compartment, which hinges down from the base of the dash, revealing a couple of cup holders, a bottle opener and an ice scraper. You can specify powered sliding side doors too. With both versions, you get autonomous emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection. And you can optionally add Volkswagen's clever 'Travel Assist' system, which can help to keep you in lane, while maintaining the distance to the vehicle in front and the maximum speed you've set. 'Travel Assist' adapts to your driving style and can also adjust your driving position further to the left or further to the right in your own lane instead of being exactly in the middle.
Those retro looks do entail practical limitations and sure enough, the elephant in the room here is carriage space. The 3.9m3 cargo capacity is well below par for the medium-sized van sector that this Volkswagen's body length and price suggests this ID.Buzz Cargo should compete in. It's more like (but still a bit below) the kind of cargo area capacity you'd expect from a long wheelbase version of the more compact EV van from the class below (a long wheelbase Renault Kangoo E-Tech, for instance, offers 4.2m3). Boxier medium-sized EV vans in the next class up typically take around 6m3 of capacity (the Ford Transit E-Custom for instance, takes between 5.8m3 and 9.0m3, depending on body shape). This ID.Buzz Cargo model won't ever be able to match that because Volkswagen refuses to offer it in the long wheelbase body shape you can have with the MPV Buzz version. Even in this standard form though, this model has enough floor space to fit two euro pallets inside. It's the high positioning of the floor that limits capacity. The payload is well down on what you'd get from rivals too (607kg with base 'Commerce' trim). As we told you in our 'Driving' section, the EV range is an easily class-leading 256 miles from the 77kWh battery (gross capacity 82kWh). You'll want to know about charging, which with either variant takes place using a Type 2 connector and works via an on-board charger with a maximum power of 11kW. This replenishes the battery from empty to full in about twelve and a quarter hours from a normal 7.4kW garage wall box. You can reduce that to about eight and a quarter hours if you happen to have a three-phase grid connection. But if you simply plug-in using a regular domestic plug, you're looking at charging taking 39 hours and 30 minutes. If you're out and about and find a rapid charger, you can use that thanks to the provided CCS connection. The maximum rapid charge power is rated at 175kW, but in an average charging session, the charging power will be at about 115kW, which replenishes the battery from 10 to 80% in about half an hour. Such a rapid charge will give you about 140 miles of driving range. Finally, there's the warranty. Volkswagens cars are limited to a three year/60,000 mile warranty package, but with a Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle (which is what all ID. Buzz models are classed as), the mileage limit in this period is raised from 60,000 to 100,000 miles. There's also three years of pan-European Roadside Assistance also included with no mileage restriction. The paintwork warranty lasts for three years and the ID. Buzz Cargo is protected by a 12-year anti-corrosion body warranty.
So, style over substance? Well it depends what you mean by 'substance'. Yes, the Buzz Cargo's load bay is small by the standards of the medium-sized van segment, but this Volkswagen fights back with a more complete specification than most mid-sized EV van models; and a much higher electric driving range. Plus there's its eye-catching style: nothing else you could choose in this class will get people looking at your company's van anything like as much. Further incentives here lie with the fact that this Volkswagen is the most car-like model in its sector to drive - and to sit in. Plus it will keep its value better than anything else in the segment. But is all that enough to overcome the practicality downside? If it is, you'll enjoy running one of these.
In case you missed anything.
Loading...