What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

Volkswagen hasn’t given us an electric commercial vehicle yet – well, not a proper one – but that’s all about to change with the ID. Buzz Cargo. 

Think of it as a modern interpretation of the Type 2 van synonymous with campervans, which is a halfway house between the Caddy and the Transporter but with an electric powertrain. 

Look past the swirling rainbow camouflage and you will see VW’s new halo product for an electric generation with passenger, campervan, and commercial vehicle versions of this compact but medium-sized van all scheduled to go into production. If you’re familiar with the passenger car range, think of this as a boxier Volkswagen ID.4 as it is based on the group’s MEB electric vehicle platform – which is exactly where you need to look to determine where this model will be heading [See below]. 

Launching with a 150kW motor, driven through the rear wheels, the ID. Buzz Cargo has a 77kWh battery pack that should make it capable of reaching up to 250 miles on a single charge. Pretty impressive stuff for a van that is not only fast but surprisingly adept in the payload department. 

Early versions will have a 2.4t GVW with a payload of around 580kg. While that’s perhaps not mind-blowing for the majority of trendy tradesmen who might be tempted by such a nostalgic looking van, it is not far off a Renault Kangoo ZE’s payload but is way down on the Citroen e-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Partner or Vauxhall Combo-e vans – all of which are marginally smaller but with larger gross weights. In other words, there’s room for improvement from a commercial vehicle point of view, but given time, that will come. In the meantime, however, the ID. Buzz Cargo has a 4m³ capacity with 1.25m of internal height, 1.7m across the width and a 2.2m load length. There’s also the ability for a small load though bulkhead adding an additional 450mm and it’s possible to transport two Euro pallets in the load area where there are six lashing points, and the option of aeroplane-style load securing rails as well. In other words, it is most definitely trying to be a proper commercial vehicle. 

Its size sees it fit neatly between its siblings, with it being roughly 200mm shorter than the Transporter T6.1 and 200mm longer than the Caddy, but there is a lot more to the ID. Buzz Cargo than filling a gap in the product range because as a vehicle conceived as being electric-only it makes fewer compromises than VW’s other electric vans to-date like the e-Crafter and ABT e-Transporter.

The battery pack, for example is integrated within the chassis, which makes the ID. Buzz feel low to the ground and particularly well planted. That’s a good thing and even though it’s rear-wheel-drive layout means the load area is slightly higher than that of a Caddy van, its not so much higher that it would pose a problem for loading items into or out of it. 

When it comes to driving though, the ID. Buzz is far superior to any of the current VW crop of vans, which is a considerable achievement. It sits on a near 3m wheelbase, but its exceptionally short overhands makes it feel like half the van it is. It rides smoothly, handles brilliantly and has a turning circle of just 11m – ideal for the city.

It is hardly surprising though, as the latest Caddy is essentially a Golf, and where the Transporter T6.1 has long been one of the best mid-sized vans and the Crafter is still the most complete of any of the large vans on the market you’d expect anything with a VW badge to follow suit these days. What the ID. Buzz brings to the table is that same VW dynamic – great to drive, nice to look at, reassuringly expensive but reliable to own (the ID. Buzz Cargo will probably have a price tag close to £43,000 when it goes on sale) – but with a wealth of new technology on top.

Unfortunately, the interior of the early prototype test vehicle we drove was covered up, ahead of its official reveal in March, but the central infotainment display and the steering wheel cluster were visible, allowing us to get a glimpse at some of the technology on-board. 

The headline grabber is that there’s a 12in central display for the ID. Buzz but Cargo models will have a slightly smaller 10in version as standard, with the 12in as an option. It allows you to control the various driving modes of the van, which include an Eco mode, Comfort setting and a Sport option – the noticeable difference between each being the responsiveness and output of the throttle pedal and the subtle weighting of the steering. The steering wheel cluster gets a smaller 6in display, which feeds back nearly all of the required information right in front of you.