We imagine that besides the stretch, the Buzz will undergo some people-moving optimization before its U.S. The Europe model comes across as a cargo van with rudimentary rear seating (think Mercedes-Benz Metris), and in fact there's a cargo version rated for 1429 pounds of payload. Our version will be 10.6 inches longer, with three rows of seats and presumably more of a focus on passengers. This was the short-wheelbase two-row model that we'll never see, outfitted with features we'll never get, such as the power-deployable tow hitch that swings out from under the rear bumper. It's hard to draw too many conclusions about what we'll see stateside, since the ID.Buzz we drove in Copenhagen is so different from the U.S.-market version. The vents in the D-pillar may be fake, but at least they correspond to the actual location of the motor. But on VW's MEB platform for EVs, the ID.Buzz can faithfully hew to the template of its beloved, painfully slow progenitor: rear motor, rear-wheel-drive. But resurrecting the Bus with anything like the original snub-nosed proportions was never really feasible with VW's internal-combustion platforms-much easier to rebadge a Dodge Grand Caravan as a Routan than to engineer some sort of front-drive cab-over-engine people hauler. Given Volkswagen's success in squeezing Beetle nostalgia for a couple of extra decades' worth of sales, it's amazing it took this long to apply the same formula to the Bug's incense-scented cousin, the Bus (or, as VW affectionately calls it in Germany, the Bulli). This is new territory: minivan as status symbol and halo car for an entire brand. Climbing into the ID.Buzz makes you want to quit your job and become a surf instructor in Hermosa Beach, or go backpacking across Peru, or raise alpacas so you can knit organic-wool drug rugs for everyone in your commune. ![]() ![]() ![]() It's a learned reflex to think of minivans as anti-stylish, but this one is unabashedly fresh, a concept car made real in two-tone candy white and lime yellow. As in, people in Copenhagen were breaking their necks to stare at it during our drive of a Europe-spec Buzz. But this isn't really a direct salvo at the likes of the Toyota Sienna and the Chrysler Pacifica. It will, after all, have power sliding doors, three rows of seats, and plenty of cupholders. Superficially, the Volkswagen ID.Buzz fits into the current roster of U.S.-market minivans.
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