This is a vehicle that more people than you might imagine have been waiting for—even if they didn’t know it. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

“GeekWire is unique among technology and business news sites, in that we look at the world through the lens of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, where we’re based.” So the outlet describes itself.

The site has an “intense global interest in technology, ideas and innovation emerging from our backyard. Our motto is, ‘What happens here matters everywhere.’ Microsoft and Amazon are classic examples, but countless startups, research organizations, educational institutions and others based in the Seattle region also have an outsized impact on the world.”

So while the coverage is generally about the tech and the people related to Microsoft, Amazon and an array of outfits and organizations that you’re likely not to have heard of unless you are deep in the digital tech space, it also covers other things on occasion.

Like the Seattle Auto Show.

And its story on the event opens:

“As I pulled away from the Seattle International Auto Show on Thursday during a test drive of the highly anticipated Volkswagen ‘ID. Buzz’ electric van, a driver in a Tesla Cybertruck offered a thumbs up.

“It was all the confirmation I needed that the Buzz was going to be the buzzworthy vehicle at the annual show at Lumen Field Event Center.”

Yes, it is the type of vehicle that gets love whether it is in Seattle or Detroit.

Cost Consideration?

Which is absolutely appropriate for the rebirth of the VW Microbus: while in its heyday in the 1960s the Microbus was largely associated San Francisco scene, this new EV is somehow more appropriate for places like Seattle than Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco. That is, there is an income-based accessibility to the ID. Buzz, with a starting MSRP of $59,995, which is more in line with the median household income in Seattle ($129,715) than Silicon Valley ($146,143): the former probably is more concerned with sticker prices than the latter.

However, given that the median household income in the U.S. is more along the lines of $78,046, the ID. Buzz may not be for every household budget—but that won’t matter. Those who can probably will.

VW Germany Builds. U.S. Will Buy

At least for the first couple years every ID. Buzz available in the U.S. (it is built in a VW plant in Hannover and has been available in the Europe market since the latter half of 2022) will be purchased. People are drawn to the vehicle in a way few other vehicles of any configuration command.

And not just the type of people who read GeekWire.

Of all of the vehicles I have driven in the past few years the ID. Buzz has had considerably more attention than any other.

Lots of Love

A 20-something HVAC technician who came to check my furnace, who says he’s thinking about buying an Accord: “That is really a cool vehicle.”

My 30-something Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio-driving next-door neighbor: “I LOVE it!”

A 60-something man who walked over to the ID. Buzz when I was in a Barnes & Noble parking lot: “I remember the Microbus from when I was young. This is quite nice.”

And there were many others who were walking by who stopped and stared and drivers giving me a thumb’s up when I cruised by.

The thing is, none of the people that I talked with about the ID. Buzz brought up the fact that it is an electric vehicle. They didn’t care whether it was based on the MEB platform, which is meaningless to them. They didn’t know if it was a rear-drive vehicle (the one in question is) or whether there is a low center of gravity by having the 91-kWh lithium-ion battery located beneath the floor.

They weren’t overthinking it.

They simply thought it looks great.

And evidently VW found that design is the #1 reason why people are interested in it.

The Definition of “Capacious”

Of course, if you’re going to buy something like the ID. Buzz, you’re probably going to be interested in its cargo capacity, whether that’s in the context of having three rows of seats for people (depending on the types of seats selected, it handles six or seven people, and there is considerable third row legroom: 42 inches, which is 10 inches more than that offered in the roomy Kia EV9) or a whopping 146 cubic-feet of cargo capacity—and I use the word “whopping” advisedly: its capacity bests the Chevy Suburban—which is 2.6 feet longer (the ID. Buzz is 195 inches; the Suburban 226 inches)—by one cubic foot, and on more of an apples-to-apples comparison, it bests the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV minivan by five cubic feet (about the size of an average microwave oven).

(However, a word about cargo capacity. The aforementioned 282-hp electric motor that provides rear-wheel drive isn’t located in the front of the vehicle with a drive shaft traveling back to the rear axle, as would be the case of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine up front, but it is in the rear of the vehicle, below the location of the third row. So while other minivans provide more manipulation of the third row because they’re not restricted by a motor, to get the maximum cargo capacity from the ID. Buzz the third row needs to be removed, not exactly the sort of thing you’d want to do on a regular basis. Still, the second and third rows do fold flat. It is just that the third row can’t go into the floor, like the “Magic Seat” in the Honda Odyssey.)

Because this is an EV, the range must be stated: the rear-drive ID. Buzz provides a range of an estimated 234 miles. And to put that into context, according to the EPA, the 2025 Kia EV9 Standard Range RWD has a range of 230 miles, so the ID. Buzz is certainly in the mix.

Final Thought

The VW ID. Buzz has something most vehicles nowadays lack: Character.

That’s what its predecessor had, which explains why there is a resonance—even for those who may not be aware of it—that carries on in this reimagining.