“Your typical city involved in a typical daydream. . . .”

By Gary S. Vasilash

Dead & Company played 30 shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas in July and earlier this month to legions of dedicated Deadheads, a large percentage of whom are pushing into or out of their middle years.

The venue seats 18,600 people, so over 30 shows that means 558,000.

Presumably a percentage of them will be interested in the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, the electric evolution of the beloved Microbus.

Almost a built-in audience for the band. (Which didn’t go unrecognized by VW, as it had a display of the vehicles—old and new—at the Sphere.)

VW has revealed the EPA-estimated range for these EV vans, which will become available in the U.S. later this year.

Rear-wheel drive models will achieve 234 miles, while the 4Motion (a.k.a., AWD) models will go 231 miles before charging.

That three-mile difference is not a big deal, even for those who have a history of racking up many miles following their favorite musicians, be they the Dead or otherwise.

There are there models in the lineup:

• Pro S. It is a RWD model that starts at $59,995
• Pro S Plus. This starts at $63,495 for RWD. The AWD model starts at $67,995.
• 1^st Edition. This is the special setup. It starts at $65,495 for RWD and $69,995. This is the one that the people who are really interested in tributes—to the Microbus, not necessarily Dark Star Orchestra or Bearly Dead—as it comes in two-tone pain schemes: Candy White top with Cabana Blue, Energetic Orange, Mahi Green, Metro Silver, or Pomelo Yellow below. All would look good with a dancing bear sticker or several. And just as important as the look is the sound: a 700-Watt harman/Kardon audio system.

“Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all the same street. . . .”