My love of cars started before I could speak. My mom still tells the story of how I would chase classic Volkswagens down the road, and how I could identify the sound of an air-cooled flat-4 from miles away. I was especially smitten with the goofy, gawky, brick-on-wheels that was the original Volkswagen Transporter, particularly the early models with split windshields, two-tone paint, and an unreasonable number of windows.
Over the years I swooned over Volkswagen’s numerous concept vehicles that hinted at a modern revival of the vehicle commonly known as the VW bus, and even though it took way too long, it’s finally here. I couldn’t have been more excited for my first chance to get behind the wheel of the official road-going Volkswagen ID Buzz. And what’s even more exciting? It absolutely lived up to my expectations.
Full Disclosure: Volkswagen was gracious enough to lend me a 2025 ID Buzz for a whole week and I got to live with it, parade my friends around in it, take it to the beach for a photoshoot, and fight off the hordes of people who asked questions about it wherever I went. It brought a smile to the face of everyone who noticed it, and I was immensely sad to give it back. It’s better to have loved and lost, right?
Nothing but positive vibes
The hippie vans of the 1960s and ’70s would hardly recognize their 21st century successor; it’s priced too high to be affordable for your average vagabond, it runs on electrons rather than exploding dinosaur juice, and it even has these things called airbags. My press car was a perfectly specced single-motor ID Buzz 1st Edition in two-tone Mahi Green and Candy White, with an as-tested price of $67,045 including $1,550 destination.
It has the same rear-motor, rear-wheel-drive configuration as the original VW bus, but it now produces nearly six times the power of its elders at 282 horsepower. The EPA says the rear-drive Buzz has a range of about 234 miles on a full charge, but over the course of my week with the Buzz I readily outperformed that rating. I achieved closer to 280 miles on a charge in a very normal mix of Los Angeles driving conditions, and I’m not necessarily light footed on the ol’ accelerator pedal. As far as charging goes, the ID Buzz is able to charge at a maximum of 200 kW, and at that rate it will charge from 10% to 80% in about 26 minutes. Not incredible, but totally reasonable.
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The primary impression the ID Buzz left on me after my week-long loan was one of pure happiness. Every time I looked at the Buzz I smiled. Pedestrians and other drivers whipped around and smiled at me too, often flagging me down to ask about it everywhere I drove it. My press car had the Electrochromic Smart Glass roof and the light-colored Dune interior theme, which even made sitting at a charger feel like I was joyously luxuriating in a gently illuminated lounge. Everything about the Buzz invokes a sense of joy. It’s a total vibe, potentially the vibey-est car on sale today, and one that is totally electric and totally unpretentious.
Behind the bus-like wheel
Original Volkswagen buses were hamstrung by woefully loud, underpowered and unrefined air-cooled motors, but thankfully this is where the ID Buzz distinguishes itself most from its forbears. The ID Buzz has a 91-kWh battery pack (with 86 kWh usable) nestled in the floor between its limo-like 127.5-inch wheelbase, and a surprisingly peppy rear-mounted electric motor that suits the Buzz perfectly. I wasn’t expecting much from the Buzz’s driving experience, but it blew my expectations out of the water. There’s ample power off the line like most EVs, and despite its upright stature and predecessor’s paltry power the Buzz is willing and eager to pass at freeway speeds, even when going uphill. I wouldn’t call it particularly exciting to drive, but it exhibits minimal body roll, it handles twisty roads very obediently, and cornering never feels ungainly or unsafe.
It took a while to acquaint myself with its slightly bus-like driving position and its unique feel in low-speed maneuvers given how close the driver sits to the front wheels, but I really enjoyed the great visibility, very airy interior, and distinctive overall character. The Buzz is not capable of one-pedal driving, a feature that many EV enthusiasts are quite fond of, but twist the Bop-It-like column-mounted gear selector into B mode and regen does a good job of naturally slowing the big van down, especially around town. I even found it to regenerate a meaningful and notable amount of charge, which inspired confidence in the Buzz’s low-ish maximum range.
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There is a long list of driver-assistance features that are standard on all ID Buzzes, which includes IQ Drive with Travel Assist (a Level 2 hands-on semi-automated highway driving assist feature), automatic parking assist with memory, and front and rear parking sensors. IQ Drive is an effective and natural-feeling system that includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping and lane-centering assists, blind-spot monitoring, and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection. I took a couple longer trips on the freeway and found that the ID Buzz suffers from a lot of wind and road noise, but all of the driver-assist systems performed flawlessly.
There has never been a vehicle that accommodates my size as well as the ID Buzz
Inside the Buzz, each front seat is flanked by supremely adjustable fold-up arm rests on both sides, and the entire floor inside the cabin is flat, further contributing to the spacious and airy lounge-like feel. The standard 12-way power heated and ventilated front seats are supple, supportive, and feel very throne-like. Their standard massage function isn’t going to put your masseuse out of business any time soon, but even a subtle massage is still pleasant.
The Buzz’s long wheelbase and tall roof mean that passenger space is straight-up vast in any of the three rows of seats. My press Buzz had the second-row bench seat, which robs second-row passengers of inboard armrests but increases the seating capacity to seven. I have never been in a regular production vehicle that has as much rear seat room as the ID Buzz. I am 6-feet-8-inches tall with legs that go all the way up, and I could sit comfortably in the second row behind my ideal driving position, and I could sit comfortably in the third row of seats with room to stretch out, though my Buzz didn’t have the recall performed to address its too-roomy third row yet. The ID Buzz should be the official vehicle of the NBA, the WNBA, the Pro Volleyball Federation, or in my case the U.S. Rowing team, because the ID Buzz is the best vehicle currently for sale for hauling up to seven exceptionally tall individuals.
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The electrochromic glass roof is nifty; slide a finger on the ceiling-mounted touch control, and the clear glass suddenly becomes opaque and frosted, nicely diffusing the sun. If you’re a sun lover like me you won’t mind the constant diffused sunlight, but there is no physical sun shade to block out the sun entirely. If you don’t worship the sun, the glass roof is only standard on 1st Edition Buzzes; it’s not offered on the base ID Buzz Pro S, and it’s a $1,495 option on the Pro S Plus trim level.
There are some shortcomings
The ID Buzz is saddled with Volkswagen’s corporate EV accouterments, which means it has some frustratingly fussy features. The driving experience is lovely and blissful, but the Buzz is a very tall vehicle, and I have a low ceiling in my apartment’s parking garage. I tried looking out the side window while slowly driving to make sure I didn’t damage this $67,045 press car, but the instant I lifted my weight off the seat to get a better look, the Buzz slammed into park and shut off, a safety feature implemented by VW. While it’s convenient to hop in and drive or hop out and leave without worrying about pushing a start button or anything, there are some rare cases when this feature just sucks.
While Volkswagen’s corporate infotainment screen is easy to use for occasional adjustments to some things like ambient lighting, frequently adjusted features like fan speed and heated seats are in a separate climate menu that requires driver focus to operate while driving. Temperature and audio volume are exclusively controlled by finicky touch-sensitive sliders, and the steering wheel–mounted controls are also touch-sensitive, making them inconsistent and easy to unintentionally graze.
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The most sought-after classic buses have 21 windows and even safari windows where the two pieces of the windshield open outward to maximize the open-air feeling. I wouldn’t expect the ID Buzz’s windshield to retract, but it’s a huge bummer that the ID Buzz’s glass roof doesn’t open. Those cool side-sliding rear windows are a lovely nod to the classic bus, but the driver only has two door-mounted window switches to control four windows. In order to operate them from the driver’s seat, you have to tap the “rear” button on the door-mounted window switch and use the same two switches you use for the front windows to adjust the rear windows. These are not unique complaints to the ID Buzz, but they are needlessly complicated for the sake of lowering manufacturing costs.
Finally, the dashboard looks nice but as soon as you touch any of the surfaces you realize how cheap and hollow it feels, and there are not as many interior cubbies as you’d expect in such a big family-oriented vehicle. It doesn’t always feel as expensive as it is, but despite all of these admittedly minor complaints, I absolutely fell in love with the ID Buzz.
If you’re considering buying an ID Buzz, I say get it
If you’re hoping for objective consumer advice, look elsewhere because I am head-over-heels for the ID Buzz, and I feel confident that anyone even considering a Buzz will be too. It’s the most characterful vehicle that Volkswagen has sold in a long time, but character isn’t quantifiable or objective. It has immaculate vibes, but again, vibes aren’t quantifiable.
The ID Buzz faces off against a small but mighty array of three-row electric vehicles including the excellent Kia EV9 and its Hyundai Ioniq 9 cousin, and some more luxury-oriented options like the Volvo EX90, Rivian R1S, and Lucid Gravity. The Kia EV9 is the best value option of the bunch, and realistically the most logical choice if you want the best bang for your buck. But if you suffer from nostalgia as much as I do, there’s nothing on the market like the Volkswagen ID Buzz right now. I desperately wish I could afford one, and that I could justify being a single person driving a three-row vehicle, because the ID Buzz totally won me over.
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