Been waiting for a seven-seat electric Camper?
Good news: the LWB VW ID Buzz is available to order now. You can even have a 340hp GTX - assuming you've got £65k
Fans of the ID Buzz will likely recall the launch of the GTX version - a model that VW confirmed would get 340hp and four-wheel drive, but without saying how far it would go between charges or how much it would cost. Well, now we know both: the dual-motor version will deliver a WLTP-rated range of 262 miles and it is priced from £67,435. If that sounds like a cheek-sucking amount for a warmed-up Bulli (and it is), it’s probably worth pointing out that no variant of the all-electric Buzz is exactly cheap - in fact, the one we tested in January last year was £65,465, once the option list had been totted up. They start at £59,035.
Anecdotally, this hasn’t prevented Volkswagen from shifting them; we say that because there seem to be a fair few around and there was feverish talk of people initially paying over the odds to skip the queue. Whether or not the GTX’s value-added ingredients actually augment the current level of demand is debatable (it gets to 62mph quicker and is significantly better at towing) but its 79kWh battery means that its range is comparable with the existing lineup, and it’s easy to appreciate all-wheel drive usability if you’re intending on using it for ‘outdoor pursuits’. Which, in fairness, is very much part of the Camper heritage.
Of course, it’s perfectly possible that a potential ID Buzz customer might be a whole lot more interested in the ‘super-practical’ 7-seat model that is also now available to order. Two reasons: one, it’s built on a longer wheelbase version of the same platform, which means as well as providing seating for seven (it gets a removable third row) there’s also a larger luggage compartment - both of which the standard Buzz is arguably crying out for. And two, its larger physical size means VW has been able to fit a bigger, faster-charging 86kWh battery, which means a WLTP range of 291 miles. In entry-level ‘Life’ trim, this costs from £59,545.
And if you’re thinking, ‘well, I like the sound of that, but I don’t think 286hp is sufficient to haul half a tonne of family around’, then you’ll be delighted to hear that you can have the longer, seven-seater as a GTX too - assuming you’re also happy with the £67,945 asking price. For reasons we don’t quite understand, VW suggests that this version gets the biggest range of the lot (295 miles), even if you do sacrifice a bit of towing capacity compared to the standard GTX (1,600kg versus 1,800kg). Either way, the order books are open now ahead of first deliveries in the autumn. Alternatively, if you don’t care about additional seats or power, you can have a very nearly new ID Buzz for £56,980…
I don’t get the vibe that they are selling well as there are some belting lease deals around on these at the moment.
Also, whilst I appreciate it has all the aerodynamic properties of a brick, 295 WLTP is pretty poor by todays standards given the side of battery you’d think they would be able to fit in this thing.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff