- VW Business Autos cites packaging constraints as the explanation it could possibly’t match a combustion engine within the ID. Buzz.
- The minivan’s brief entrance overhang leaves no room for a gasoline engine.
- Because of this, the corporate says it is unlikely to construct a range-extending ID. Buzz.
With 60,700 models delivered globally in 2025, the ID. Buzz was the eighth best-selling EV within the Volkswagen Group. Demand for the retro-flavored electrical minivan and its cargo twin doubled in comparison with the earlier 12 months. Nevertheless, whereas the electrical individuals mover is doing effectively in Europe, it has struggled in america. Solely 6,140 models had been offered there, prompting an surprising determination to cancel the 2026 mannequin 12 months and filter out 2025MY stock earlier than bringing again the ID. Buzz for 2027.
The modest 234-mile vary of the rear-wheel-drive mannequin, mixed with a steep $61,545 beginning worth, definitely did not assist its trigger. When VW introduced the ID. Buzz would skip the 2026MY, it did not cite vary or pricing as causes for the minivan’s one-year hiatus. As an alternative, it blamed usually weak EV adoption within the U.S., calling it a “strategic determination” primarily based on a “cautious evaluation of present EV market circumstances.”
We’re now studying that VW did contemplate a option to make the ID. Buzz extra interesting by addressing vary anxiousness with a gasoline engine serving as a generator. In an interview with an Australian journal, the pinnacle of Volkswagen Business Autos revealed {that a} range-extending model was thought-about at one level.
Picture by: DW Burnett / Motor1
Stefan Mecha advised GoAuto that whereas the thought of an EREV powertrain was explored, engineers in the end bumped into packaging constraints. The ID. Buzz’s brief entrance overhang leaves no room for a combustion engine as a result of the MEB platform was developed solely for battery-electric automobiles. Greater than 20 fashions trip on the devoted structure, starting from the ID.3 to the ID.7 Tourer. Not all of them are Volkswagen Group merchandise, both, because the Ford Explorer and Capri additionally use the rear-wheel-drive-based modular platform.
Whereas a range-extending ID. Buzz is not occurring, the VW Group lately launched its first EREV in China, the place the ID. Era 9X is a big six-seat SUV co-developed with SAIC. It makes use of a 1.5-liter gasoline engine as a generator to cost the battery, decreasing charging stops. The corporate’s new Scout model may also supply range-extending variations of the Traveler and Terra in america when the SUV and pickup truck enter manufacturing in 2027.
Late final 12 months, Bloomberg reported that the broader Volkswagen Group is contemplating vary extenders for Europe and america. That will make sense, given the long-awaited SSP platform is being developed to accommodate combustion engines that operate solely as mills. SSP is anticipated to finally exchange the entire group’s present electrical platforms after probably debuting in a manufacturing Audi in 2028, with Porsche and Skoda fashions to comply with.
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Motor1’s Take: A spread-extending variant might need moved the needle for the ID. Buzz in america. Whereas an EREV model would not seem like occurring, VW is not giving up on the minivan. The 2027 ID. Buzz brings new colours and wheel designs, together with typical buttons on the steering wheel. It additionally positive aspects a Tourer model bundling a fold-out mattress and platform, window blinds, entrance window air flow panels, plus an exterior desk and chairs.
With hopefully extra smart pricing, the ID. Buzz may nonetheless have an opportunity to win over extra U.S. consumers. Nevertheless, VW will proceed delivery the electrical minivan with a North American Charging System (NACS) adapter as a substitute of a local port, and that may very well be a turnoff for some potential clients.
