Volkswagen will produce an electric version of its Type 2/Microbus camper van:
Volkswagen has decided to go ahead with production of an electric version of its classic Microbus camper van as it seeks to boost its electric vehicle credentials.
The potential battery-powered revamp of the van, known as the Bulli in Germany, was first announced at the Detroit auto show in January.
"After the presentations at the global motor shows in Detroit and Geneva, we received a large number of letters and emails from customers who said, 'please build this car'," Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess said in a statement.
The electric van, known as the ID Buzz, will go on sale in 2022 and VW said it will target customers in North America, Europe and China. The company will also build a cargo version of the van, it added.
It will get "semi-self-driving capability".
What about the range?
At its debut, VW said the I.D. Buzz concept had a big enough battery pack to enable approximately 270 miles of range on the American EPA cycle. It'll also put a whopping 369 horsepower to the ground through its all-wheel drive system.
The original Microbus? It had 25 horsepower. My how things have changed.
Also at Auto Express.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @04:17AM (1 child)
c'mon VW, that's 5 years away. And we all know that things that are 5 years away seem to stay 5 years away.
Or was that fusion, which is always 20 years away...?
(Score: 2) by Some call me Tim on Monday August 21 2017, @06:17AM
You're thinking of Global warming disaster hysteria. New York, Florida and California were supposed to be under 30 feet of water by now. Since my beach front property never happened, I'll put my money on Volkswagen to deliver. It would make a really nice mobile observatory with a clam shell roof.
Questioning science is how you do science!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @04:26AM (9 children)
I'll say. The original Microbus was made during a time where weighty items such as explosive-laced airbags, arbitrary crash-safety frame reinforcement, and other mandated features weren't built in... at gunpoint.
Such lightweight and barebones vehicles still are made brand new today: they cost a few thousand dollars and do the job of taking people and things from point A to point B. For those countries that don't have them, you COULD have them, governments like the USA's have forbidden them. Freedom!!!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Monday August 21 2017, @08:10AM (8 children)
"The original Microbus was made during a time where weighty items such as explosive-laced airbags, arbitrary crash-safety frame reinforcement, and other mandated features weren't built in... "
Out of mod points, but I'm not sure why your comment was nuked down to -1.
It's a fact that today's cars are stuffed full of safety features. These do not always make sense, and can even be counterproductive. For example: Visibility in modern cars is really lousy compared to cars from 50 years ago. This is due to the thick roof supports required for rollover protection. How many cars roll over? How many accidents are caused by the poor visibility? What's the cost/benefit?
Average vehicle weight today is over two tons. That's nearly twice the weight of the original VW bus, which was around 2400 pounds. Lots of that additional weight comes from mandated safety features. Being in a heavier vehicle is, by itself, safer - for the occupants of that vehicle - but more dangerous to whoever or whatever they crash into.
Back to the minibus: its simplicity, practicality and low price made it the symbol of a generation. Today, it would be illegal to produce a comparable vehicle.
So the parent comment raises a legitimate question: Has the government gone overboard in mandating safety features?
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Monday August 21 2017, @12:17PM (3 children)
I currently have a newer Hyundai, and after coming from a sportier 90's car, I'm very much of the opinion that my likelihood of getting into an accident in this car is far higher, mainly because of the large front pillars, and a little because of difficulty checking blind spots (I should switch to a different mirror setup). The pillars are large, and block very important areas for city driving.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Monday August 21 2017, @04:17PM (2 children)
At least that accident won't turn out to be your last though.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Nerdfest on Monday August 21 2017, @05:15PM (1 child)
As a motorcyclist, I'd prefer that PEOPLE BE ABLE TO SEE ME rather than being protected from injury when they kill me. Just my selfish opinion.
(Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Monday August 21 2017, @11:36PM
Bicyclists and pedestrians too. My co-worker was hit by a turning car while in a crosswalk. Luckily enough he had a helmet on as it was smashed - instead of his head. You can be looking directly into a turn and those pillars will easily hide a pedestrian or motorcycle - and sometimes even a small car.
SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 21 2017, @06:45PM (3 children)
> So the parent comment raises a legitimate question: Has the government gone overboard in mandating safety features?
Deaths and injuries are going down. Gas taxes are coming in courtesy of all the extra metal offsetting much of the engine gains.
QED: Politicians believe they are doing the right thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 21 2017, @10:39PM (2 children)
There is no choice for a willing and non-coerced seller and buyer to manufacture and sell a Volkswagen Type 2 [wikipedia.org] today, not in the USA, and not in Brazil (which, according to Wikipedia, continued to build them new up through 2013!)
If I were to obtain the manufacturing equipment from Brazil and start manufacturing and sale of new Type 2 minibusses today, the US fedgov wouldn't be long in breaking into my property, kidnapping or killing me, stealing my equipment, and likely stealing the new Type 2s I made from people who willingly bought them from me - all based on the beliefs of politicians [youtube.com]. Politicians are initiating the use or threat of lethal force via their political enforcers, and that is why we can't have Type 2 25 horsepower microbusses in the USA right now.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 21 2017, @10:47PM (1 child)
Delusional paranoid bullshit.
The government would politely explain that you may sell your products, while telling your customers that they cannot operate them on public roads, nor get license plates.
Public roads are a place where certain standards are enforced, and your product is not compliant with those standards. Should you believe that your product should receive an exemption from those standards, there is a process, typically used by low-volume sports cars, to help guarantee the expectations and safety of all people involved.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @06:39AM
... ultimately upon pain of death. Thank you, sir, for doing my work for me.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday August 21 2017, @04:36AM
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1395087 [neogaf.com]
Luckily, they decided not to make this:
http://time.com/money/4169174/vw-electric-micobus-concept-ces/ [time.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RedBear on Monday August 21 2017, @07:33AM
Perspective: VW have been talking about doing a new minibus for a couple of decades, and for several years the rumors have been that it would be electric. They keep showing concept vans at auto shows every few of years. I haven't been impressed.
I am an EV fan. I also really like the design of the original VW bus. I understand why people keep buying old broken down 1970s VW buses and beetles even today, to fix them up or convert them to electric. There's just something about those iconic designs; people never got tired of them. But their concept cars are a joke. A really bad, bland joke. They seem to have no designers left at VW who can evoke the same kind of response as the classic designs. I understand part of the reason the vehicles can't be exactly the same shape, which is 50 years of updated safety regulations. But still, if they really wanted to they could make a new vehicle conforming to all those new regs that could still be just as iconic as the original. But they don't seem to have that kind of DNA in the company anymore.
So if they ever do actually build this new "microbus" that they've been saying they'll build for many years, it won't be anything like the original microbus that everyone loves, and I don't think it will be very successful. I haven't seen an electric concept vehicle from them that was even moderately interesting. But that's just me.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 1, Spam) by aristarchus on Monday August 21 2017, @08:09AM
No Comment.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Monday August 21 2017, @06:51PM (1 child)
The United States places a prohibitive import tariff on light trucks [wikipedia.org], which killed the original Microbus in that country. I couldn't find in any of the four articles where Volkswagen plans to build this I.D. Buzz. Did I miss something?
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:15AM
Not 100% true: the tariff is on light trucks (and is really stupid, but not the point of this comment). The original microbus was able to be imported fine, except the cargo versions which fell under light truck. A very similar example was the Fort Transit Connect being manufactured in Turkey. They would arrive as passenger vans and if they needed a cargo van they would shred and recycle the seats for scrap.
Looking at the styling I suspect they are only going to pursue the passenger segment with this vehicle, so no chicken tax issue.