A lightly camouflaged prototype of the upcoming 2024 ID.Buzz was spied testing with all the necessary equipment for autonomous driving, revealing more bits of its exterior and interior design in the process. The VW ID. Buzz made its spy debut last June and appeared again in July but those prototypes were panel vans and came with more extensive camouflage hiding the front and rear LEDs. The new sighting is a passenger version as proven by the rear windows and the sliding doors on both sides of the van. As a reminder, VW has shown us a quite revealing teaser of the ID. Buzz during the launch of the ID.5.
The pictured prototype looks almost
identical to the VW ID.BUZZ AD (stands for Autonomous Driving), jointly
developed with Argo Al which was previewed at the Munich Auto Show last
September. However, now we can see more of the LED headlights since most of the
black tape stickers are gone. The taillights also look like the production
units, merging with a thin stripe on the large tailgate.
The spy photographers also had a peek
inside the van, revealing a familiar digital cockpit with a 10-inch
infotainment touchscreen and a smaller digital instrument cluster looking like
the ones on the ID.3. The three-spoke steering wheel is slightly inclined like
in every MPV and has integrated touch-sensitive controls.
The ID. Buzz is expected to be offered in
different versions based on the MEB platform. The base model will have a single
electric motor producing 201 hp transmitted to the rear-wheel
drive. There will also be a version with dual electric motors producing a
combined 365 hp transmitted to all four wheels. The battery
packs will have a capacity ranging from 48 kWh to 111 kWh with the largest one
offering a 550 km range.
The production version of the VW ID. Buzz
and the will arrive in Europe in 2022, with the US market following in 2023.
The fully autonomous version which will be the first of its kind is slated to
begin offering services in Hamburg, Germany, in 2025.
