Volkswagen ID. Buzz LWB (2024 - ) Electric review

Let’s get this out the way, the chunky starting price of the ID. Buzz will be a key consideration. After all, it’s a modern Volkswagen electric vehicle and that comes at a premium. But keeping things running once purchased is where electric vehicles like the ID. Buzz shine, and the LWB (for 'long-wheel base') version is no different even if the same considerations for running an electric vehicle apply. Essentially, you can offset the higher purchase price against the longer-term savings of not having to spend on petrol or diesel. Thanks to the inclusion of a new larger battery as standard, the LWB version now offers the longest driving range in the line-up. WLTP figures quote a maximum of 291 miles on a single charge on the standard Life trim level and a fraction less on the Style version, with both feeling achievable on a warm day like the one we drove it on. Thanks to rapid charging, a five to 80 per cent charge can be completed in just 30 minutes on a DC charging point, while on an 11kW point a zero to 100 per cent charge will take around 7.5 hours.Home charging capabilities will significantly reduce your charging costs (depending on your energy tariff), and public charging will of course cost a bit more. However, that longer range means you won’t be topping up quite as often for standard commuting or short trips, and expensive public charging only becomes a cost consideration if you’re using the Buzz for longer drives up and down the country.

As standard, the ID. Buzz LWB is covered by the same three-year or 100,000-mile warranty across the range. There is the option to extend this coverage to up to five years with a one-off (or monthly) payment – it’s worth bearing in mind before you make that payment that if you took one on a three-year finance plan or lease the standard warranty would give you plenty of coverage. You get three years of breakdown cover included as well and the vehicle’s main battery is covered by its own separate eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty. So, while the standard vehicle warranty is average for the industry, the battery cover is substantial. A manufacturer’s warranty length is usually a good way to judge reliability and shows the level of confidence a manufacturer has in its components – make of that what you will in this case.

Safety upgrades have come thick and fast, with both models now offering a high level of assistance features as standard, including Park Assist Plus and a very useful area view camera producing a composite image of your surrounding environment. The upgraded Buzz also features a new exit warning system alerting you to the presence of other vehicles approaching from the rear when a door is opened – we tried it out in the car park on the launch and it really works. For child seats, the front passenger seat, the two outer seats in the second row and both seats in the third row provide ISOFIX points and top tether anchor points as standard – meaning you have plenty of options of where to seat your children safely. There have also been “significant hardware and software updates” to the vehicle control and infotainment system, including the option of a head-up display. In our Style trim LWB test vehicle the head-up display was crisp and clear with an easy-to-use height adjustment feature – the traffic sign recognition was also responsive and kept eyes on the road. Reducing the need to interact with the infotainment system with your hands is the ever-present voice assistant that allows you to control numerous vehicle functions just by talking to your Buzz, which is always soothing. In short, it’s the safest Buzz yet.

In LWB form the ID. Buzz LWB now measures a smidge under five metres in length, which is a slight increase over the standard model but not enough to make it difficult to park or fit into a standard parking place. More space between the wheels means more room inside, seating for up to seven people and improved access via the longer sliding doors. The seats feel the same as the previous version of the Buzz – comfortable and supportive with enough ergonomics to get the right driving height. Arm rests on the driver and main passenger seats make a welcome return but did feel a little ‘ratchety’ when adjusted for height. The steering wheel is adjustable for rake and reach, as you’d expect, and it took little effort to achieve a comfortable driving position. The bigger side doors mean significantly wider openings and are easier to get in and out of that the standard wheelbase Buzz. While the ID. Buzz LWB comes as standard with seven seats – arranged with two in the front, three in the middle and two at the back – it can also be ordered as a five-seater with two in the front and three in the middle, or as a six-seater with three rows of two seats. The third row of seats can also be completely removed from the vehicle to create a larger cargo area of 1,340 litres which is ample room for luggage, shopping, golf bags, etc. If you drop the middle seats forward, you’ll have up to 2,469 litres to play with, creating enough space for bikes and surfboards. Even if you left the seats where they are, the Buzz LWB has enough boot space for a grocery shop. Personal comfort (and style) is enhanced even further for passengers with the inclusion of electric sliding windows in the bigger side doors – these are electric on Style models and a very cool (pun intended) addition. The driver gets a heated steering wheel, both front seats are heated as standard, as is the heated windscreen, two-zone climate control and a whopping great big 12.9-inch infotainment display. A lot of the improvements in comfort have come from the increased space and seating – the roof can sometimes feel a little low, but the panoramic sunroof can help with that – but we’d challenge anyone to get into a Buzz LWB and not feel like they’re sitting in a larger vehicle. It does also raise the interesting question of whether the Buzz is better considered as competing with SUVs than larger standard cars.

Most features are shared with the regular version of the Buzz so there’s no need to repeat ourselves there. That said, there are some interesting additions in this new version. For one, Style models add powerful LED headlights that dip and flare automatically depending on lighting conditions, and we appreciated the powered tailgate and sliding side doors, not to mention the added convenience of being able to operate them remotely from the key fob. Style models get the head-up display as standard and an excellent Harman Kardon sound system but perhaps our favourite addition is the huge panoramic sunroof – the largest ever fitted to a Volkswagen – available on Style models. At the touch of a button, the huge glass roof goes opaque or clear depending on what you want for a modern twist on driving a Samba Bus T1 Camper. Which is, of course, the whole idea of this vehicle. Thanks to the fully integrated Chat GPT you can also ask the Buzz general knowledge questions on the move, an amusing addition that tested our GCSE German on the test drives.

The Buzz LWB features a new version of the single rear-mounted motor generating 282 horsepower (a big step up from previous) and 560 Nm of torque for the usual immediate feeling of power most electric vehicles offer. The Buzz goes and you’ll find the added power makes it even easier match your pace with fast-moving traffic. That said, wind noise is still an issue and can be noisy at motorway speeds. Volkswagen could do with adding more baffling around the driver compartment to reduce this. The Buzz LWB is a heavy vehicle, which is great because it always feels safe and planted to the road but does mean tight corners at speed throw you and your passengers around. B mode driving will put a bit of juice back into the battery and give you the feeling of engine braking, which feels keener with this new motor than before. Range only seems to fall when you’d expect – when under load and speed – but there were no sense of sudden drops, just steady decline in range according to the driving conditions. The promise of a near 300-mile range is very convincing for a vehicle of this size, and it feels achievable – we’ll reserve full judgement until we drive one in colder weather, though.