Volkswagen unveils in Paris the ID.Buzz, electric reincarnation of the famous Combi | Photo credits: josefkubes / Shutterstock.com
(updated with details)
PARIS/BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) – Volkswagen on Wednesday unveiled in Paris the final version of its long-awaited ID.Buzz, an electric reincarnation of the legendary Combi whose sales should begin in Europe in the third quarter.
The van, which should also be launched in the United States at the end of 2023, was presented on the 6th floor of a former garage with a view of the Eiffel Tower. The vehicle, with a modernized design, sported a two-tone livery as a nod to the original Combi, whose long career began almost exactly 72 years earlier, in March 1950.
The ID.Buzz is the first in ten years of a series of prototypes of new minibuses to successfully reach the production stage.
Assembled in Hanover, Germany, the vehicle features an 82 kWh lithium-ion battery and can reach a top speed of 145 km/h. Its autonomy, in the course of approval, should exceed 400 kilometers.
Volkswagen has indicated that other versions of the vehicle, offering different battery powers, will follow next year. (Victoria Waldersee, with Gilles Guillaume, edited by Bertrand Boucey)