VW ID. Buzz Join the Revolution of Electric Vehicles!
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- Volkswagen ID. Buzz signals a turning point in the electric vehicle industry: the transition from mainstream to niche.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz van is back, after nearly two decades, a technological leap, a diesel emissions scandal, and a geopolitical gas crisis.
Volkswagen unveiled The Volkswagen ID. Buzz, a battery-powered vehicle, on Wednesday. The massive machine, which will be available to European dealerships later this year, can be set for all kinds of Tetris situations, from stinky mattresses to dog beds and surfboards. It is made completely of vegan leather and organic paint. Drivers in the United States won’t be able to get their hands on one until 2024, but I expect a long line for it soon.
This ID. Buzz van may put an end to the electric vehicle‘s stigma as a narrow eat-your-vegetables tool for the few individuals and firms striving to meet emissions targets. Sure, the GMC Hummer, with its 9,000 pounds and tank-driving abilities, has arrived, but the camper van is likely to be a more extreme electrification use case.
For one thing, the road trip is the cause for its existence. And, at least in the U.S., the long road journey is still hampered by a lack of charging infrastructure in rural regions. The Hummer bros are the ones that commute and go to Costco, not the vanlife crowd. The beach and Burning Man are the destinations of these rigs. Second, vans are not very popular, nor were they like that before. Americans purchased only 311,000 minivans last year, a rough estimate in Detroit and a 35 percent decrease compared to just 5 years ago.
An ID. Buzz bus, on the other hand, is a little different. Over the years, the business has produced almost 7 million of them, and when Volkswagen ceased delivering new models to America in 2003, it continued to generate on its own cult momentum. In fact, the most valuable old Transporters now fetch over $200,000.
The suits in Wolfsburg are well aware of this. Automakers are adept at building gas-powered vehicles that few want, thanks to their reckless lust for so-called “white space”. The fact that they’re finally doing so with electric cars is probably the most compelling proof yet that the battery-powered revolution has reached a tipping point.
For the past 21 years, Volkswagen has teased new microbus concepts. The fifth CEO in that time period was the one who ultimately chose to send one to the manufacturing. Rivals, on the other hand, have plenty of opportunities to advance over the years. The competition for first place in the electric vehicle divisions has heated up recently. Carmakers may be killing off their gas-powered vehicles, hatchbacks, convertibles, and everything else that isn’t SUVs, but they’re betting big on the development of the electric vehicle species.
Rivian was the first company to manufacture an electric pickup truck. We now have a battery-powered station wagon from Porsche. As investors’ lust for all things electric collides with a looming gas crisis, things are only going to get even crazier. Strange ideas are given the green light.
Think of the recently introduced Polestar O2. It’s a small electric sports car with a retractable roof and a self-driving drone that can be moved skyward and directed to follow the car and record video – a car designed just to drive people crazy. That’s as niche as it gets in an industry dominated by multinational corporations that have never seen a focus group or seen a part of supply chain synergy they have not liked.
