DETROIT AUTO SHOW
Comeback kid on a bit of a buzz
Volkswagen has resurrected the Microbus again, but this time it is electric, writes Michael Taylor
Comeback kid Volkswagen is going backwards and forwards at the same time with its all-electric ID Buzz people mover concept car which it revealed at the Detroit Auto Show. It’s the latest in at least five attempts the brand has had to rekindle the Kombi spirit since the millennium, but it’s never quite done it like this before. While the outer skin clearly looks to the past, the internals of the ID Buzz are just as clearly a peak into Volkswagen’s future. The concept car is a precursor to a model tentatively slated to join the VW lineup in 2020, with two electric motors, a long-range lithium-ion battery and seating for eight adults. The all-wheel drive MPV has 275kW of total system power, with 150kW coming from an electric motor on the snub-nosed front and the same from the one integrated into the rear axle structure. (And, before you ask, the nature of the power delivery means that, no, it doesn’t add up to 300kW.) Volkswagen is also proposing a 200kW version as a pure rear-wheel d...
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