The world is constantly evolving, sometimes for the best, and sometimes for the worst. Our natural reaction to those changes might not always be positive.
I think this is directly linked to a primal instinct for survival. Something new might simply be a new way to die. As soon as something disrupts our daily routine and comfort, our defence system turns on, to make sure that it is not a threat to us or the people we love. But if an idea is good enough, useful enough, or simply harmless enough, with time we can learn to accept it.
Most of the great innovations of today’s modern world were widely criticised at their beginnings: The internet, cell phones, commercial planes, and so on.
Radical pitches or theories in specific industries can create the same effect of discomfort to the people passionate about said field. For example, many in the historian community are troubled by the findings of Göbeklitepe, in Turkey. It’s a neolithic archaeological site that defies the belief that Mesopotamia is the earliest urban literate civilization on the globe as this site is about 10,000 years old, and according to most historians, we were simple hunter-gatherers at that time. Yet, this massive stone structure was built with cunning precision and alignment. A gentleman named Graham Hancock, and a few others, argue that an advanced ice age civilization was destroyed in a cataclysm, called the younger dryas, but that its survivors introduced agriculture, monumental architecture and astronomy to hunter-gatherers around the world. After doing some research, watching countless hours of YouTube videos, and listening to an equal amount of podcasts about the subject, I would be lying to you if I didn’t believe in his theory. And with time, I’m willing to bet that the historians that aren’t particularly happy about these ideas, will be faced with so much evidence of his theory being true that the history of mankind will have to be re-written.
The VW ID. Buzz has a retro styling, based on the original VW minivan, the Type 2. It’s visually very pleasing , even though the one we had didn’t have the colour scheme I prefere of white and yellow. Either way, it’s still very pretty to look at, cute, even.
The interior matches the exterior as far as styling is concerned, but the build quality isn’t the best, especially for 60,000 euros. Mainly because of the amount of plastic in the cabin. Although, it is premium quality plastic, so there’s that.
To keep the segment of complaints going, the rear sliding doors didn’t open or close by themselves. And they should. It’s an electric car that shouts “I AM THE FUTURE!”. So it should act like it…
The seating position is close to perfect. It isn’t a Mercedes s-class, but as far as MPVs are concerned, you’re not going to find much better. You sit upright, the seat gives you good lumbar support, you have little side bolsters that keep you in place, but most importantly the armrests are attached to the seats and they are, quite literally, perfectly positioned.
The steering is numb, but precise. The throttle pedal is linear, and weighted correctly (or maybe slightly too light). The brake pedal is intuitive and well balanced, even though the ID. Buzz has a regenerative braking system, which I usually don’t like. They are all three as uncommunicative as a brick wall, and that’s exactly how it should be.
I felt confident at the wheel, whether we were driving on the motorway, in the city or on mountain roads. This VW is long but not very wide, in fact it’s as wide as a Tesla model 3. It also has the same 11.1m turning radius as its older brother, the Golf. These two perks make the ID. Buzz very simple to drive around tight areas. I must add that the visibility is absolutely stelar, thanks to the cathedral amount of glass around the driver, and that the powertrain provides so much torque that you never have to worry about having the torque to get out of sticky situations. Once again, these are perks that I welcome with open arms when it comes to everyday driving.
Now, I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but I don’t think that any other powertrain could have fitted this car better than the electric system it has. As you may already know, I’m a big believer in internal combustion, but the electric motor paired with the lack of a transmission creates a smoothness and an amount of power that can only be matched by a V12 out of a Rolls Royce. Like in most electric cars, the batteries are “under” the car, meaning the centre of gravity is really low and that helps with handling. The suspension setup is perfect too, it can handle rough terrain with ease and yet it manages to keep this heavy vehicle nice and stable on twisty mountain roads.
This exact ID. Buzz has been at the dealership we borrowed it from for 3 months now. No one has brought it… That’s because the biggest inconvenience this car has is a big one. VW claims 410 km of range, but when we climbed in it, it showed 298 km with 100% charge. That’s not enough compared to the mileage you can get out of a full tank of gasoline. The day we will figure out how to get over 500 km of range out of an electric battery will be the day we will see electric motors in most vehicles. The ID. Buzz proved to me that there is indeed a replacement for displacement. MPVs, small city cars, buses and basically any vehicle that isn’t purposely built for enthusiasts are better off being electric.
The EV revolution of the mid 2000s, started by Tesla, basically said to the world that electric vehicles were going to be the future, and that we better get used to it.
I once again would be lying if I told you that I always believed the future of cars would be electric.
They aren’t ecological to build, they’re expensive, and the range they provide on a full charge is an issue. But more importantly I never liked the way they felt. They had a weird suspension setup that made me a little seasick, the steering system felt connected to a dyno torch, and the regenerative braking sensation made my wife and I nauseous. They lacked the spiritual and emotional aura that many petrol cars can provide. That was the problem. But the ID. Buzz has fixed most those problems and at the same time it has done what I thought would not be possible: changed the way I foresaw my emotional response to the future of automobiles. It forced me to lower my guard, to turn off my survival instinct that I had developed to protect the petrol engines I love.
Electric cars are to petrolheads what Göbeklitepe is to historians: A new way to see something that we believed as being the only truth. We don’t have enough proof, yet, for the world to accept that we lost an advanced civilization during the younger dryas. But we are frequently finding archaeological sites like Göbeklitepe, that are slowly but surely getting us there. We do, however, now have enough proof for me to see that the future of cars will be electric. (Although I still hope some cars will keep an internal combustion engine)
The Buzz is a fantastic MPV, it lacks the range needed to be a perfect vehicle, but that will come with time, and I now can’t wait to see what the future holds.
If you can’t be bothered reading, don’t hesitate to watch our YouTube video!
It’s the best one we’ve done!
I would like to thank Volkswagen Cluses for lending me this ID. Buzz. If you are looking for your next VW, Seat or Skoda, don’t hesitate to contact them.
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