It's the new VW Micro-Buzz

Another Volkswagen Microbus concept - but it might actually make this one...

Away from the headlines about a UK VW owner class action lawsuit and FBI arrests of US VW execs, the brand is generating buzz of a different kind at the Detroit Motor Show, with the new I.D. Buzz Concept. Yes, it's another 'new Microbus', only this time it stands a great chance of making production - with the objective of helping Americans make friends with the brand again.

Needless to say, it doesn't have a dirty diesel engine. It doesn't have an engine at all, in fact. Built atop VW's all-new EV architecture, dubbed MEB and due out in 2020, there are two 201hp motors driving both axles for a cumulative 369hp and 270-mile range. 0-60mph? Around five seconds, reckons VW, although the top speed is restricted to 99mph to give the batteries a fighting chance. Rather amusingly, VW's PR team speculates how easy it would be to make a pure RWD I.D. Buzz, albeit one still producing 268hp...

The new-era Microbus MPV seats eight people and has two boots. It's big - more than 4.9 metres long, with a 3.3-metre wheelbase. Of course, VW claims it's going to drive itself, via an I.D. Pilot mode, so it includes a space-age steering wheel console that slides in and out of the dash (notably, though, VW only says this tech "could" make it into production by 2025). User configuration also moves into the modern era, with personal settings stored in the cloud via the Volkswagen User-ID. This means your smartphone acts as your digital car key: if you've got your phone, you'll get into your I.D. Buzz.

Riding on 22-inch wheels, it's unmistakably 'Microbus'. Overseen by VW design head Klaus Bischoff, the design is ultra-clean and homogenous, with the distinctive features of the original modernised and given new functionality. For example, the front-end 'V', which is made of LEDs and can communicate with pedestrians when the car's in autonomous mode. Where the retro model had chrome, this has LED ambient light strips; the VW logos are big and illuminated, to show VW is proud of itself again. Check the rear roof pillar air vents, too: pure T1, no?

Inside, it's gone all 22nd century, with capacitive touch-sensitive steering wheel displays, augmented reality head-up display and an I.D. Box centre console with free-moving tablet. "The classic cockpit no longer exists," claims Volkswagen. Seats are staggeringly adjustable, making it more like a lounge area than a car: fold seats to make tables, face-to-face-conference suites, even beds. Check out the silver birch wood floor and the lovely knitted fabric seats. Also check out the steering wheel: it doesn't have any spokes, the firm says, proudly. It's more of an interactive touchpad, where you press the VW logo in the middle to switch between normal and autonomous drive.

VW wants to be selling a million EVs a year built upon this architecture by 2025. The I.D. Buzz won't be a wildly high-volume variant, but it will be an important flag-waver for a brand that's been admonished into putting electric cars at the heart of its strategy. We expected previous New Microbus models to be made, to no avail. We're placing heavier bets on this one coming through, not least because VW needs to create a love-in. What better way to restore peace than with this?

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big_rob_sydney

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