VW ID. Buzz Cargo
Discussion
While not a car I thought I'd keep a bit of a thread on my recent addition to the fleet, a VW ID Buzz Cargo. I was running a 12 year old Transit and had always said I'd be happy to jump on the EV train if a van that would work for me was available. I saw the Buzz people version come out a while back and liked the look of it but the price put it out of reach. Roll on to the end of last year and there were some decent deals being offered, after a bit of thinking I went for it.
Delivery took ages but it finally arrived start of February, I knew I'd need to be organised with space as it's a bit smaller than the previous van. After lots of options considered I went with a false floor. This works well for me with the Buzz because they all have twin side loading doors meaning I can get to the entire van from at least one of the doors and never need to properly get inside it. I'm no chippie but I knocked up something and got organising.
Range is around 250 miles on a full charge, I barely do that over a week so I'm rarely going to be pushing it for range but it's good to know it has more than enough for my needs. I have made a couple of longer trips, London and Reading and could have done both on a charge no bother. I did try a quick public charge to try so I knew what I was doing, no issues and it added about 70 miles in the time I went for a coffee in Starbucks so if required I could add some charge without wasting much time. It charges at 180KW on a fast charger. In London there was a slow 22KW charger next to the job, so I plugged it in, cost me £17 I think in electric vs £19 for on street parking!
Driving wise it's lovely, more car like than most vans I've driven although it still sounds a bit hollow in the back but then it is still a van. It feels nimble around the bends, performance is very good, while it's not fast in the usual way, it picks up very well from any a sensible speeds. I find myself using the speed limiter a lot now as it's easy to whizz up the road a bit too quick.
Inside it's got a huge screen, car play and heated seats. Plenty of room for me being 6ft 2, the position isn't as high as most vans but higher than an SUV. Outside it looks smart, gets a bit of attention and makes for a good talking point, I like the old skool steelie wheels.
It's not all perfect though, there are some niggly bits. It's got a lot of 'tech' that needs setting up, it's the first vehicle I've got that feels like when you get a new phone and it takes a few hours of setting everything up, fine for me but anyone who isn't tech savvy will need some help. All the car settings plus the charger settings took a bit of time to get right. The tech on it is largely good, speed limit warning, collision warning etc etc. The only one I turn off each time is lane assist, which is pretty poor to be honest. Second little annoyance is the ignition, while it's great that it comes on when you get in, when you adjust yourself in the seat it turns off straight away and comes back on when the weight is back on the seat. Irritating.
Aside from those bit's it's been positive so far. Keyless entry for a van is a game changer when you're in and out of it all day and I enjoy driving it day to day. It's been returning about 2.5 miles a KWh through the cooler temperatures, but now it's a bit more mild it's easy to get over 3 miles/KWh now. Pre heating and cooling is lovely, no scraping the screen when frosty and no need to sweat when the sun has been on it all day.
I'll keep this updated going forwards, if anyone has any questions I'll do my best to answer them!
Delivery took ages but it finally arrived start of February, I knew I'd need to be organised with space as it's a bit smaller than the previous van. After lots of options considered I went with a false floor. This works well for me with the Buzz because they all have twin side loading doors meaning I can get to the entire van from at least one of the doors and never need to properly get inside it. I'm no chippie but I knocked up something and got organising.
Range is around 250 miles on a full charge, I barely do that over a week so I'm rarely going to be pushing it for range but it's good to know it has more than enough for my needs. I have made a couple of longer trips, London and Reading and could have done both on a charge no bother. I did try a quick public charge to try so I knew what I was doing, no issues and it added about 70 miles in the time I went for a coffee in Starbucks so if required I could add some charge without wasting much time. It charges at 180KW on a fast charger. In London there was a slow 22KW charger next to the job, so I plugged it in, cost me £17 I think in electric vs £19 for on street parking!
Driving wise it's lovely, more car like than most vans I've driven although it still sounds a bit hollow in the back but then it is still a van. It feels nimble around the bends, performance is very good, while it's not fast in the usual way, it picks up very well from any a sensible speeds. I find myself using the speed limiter a lot now as it's easy to whizz up the road a bit too quick.
Inside it's got a huge screen, car play and heated seats. Plenty of room for me being 6ft 2, the position isn't as high as most vans but higher than an SUV. Outside it looks smart, gets a bit of attention and makes for a good talking point, I like the old skool steelie wheels.
It's not all perfect though, there are some niggly bits. It's got a lot of 'tech' that needs setting up, it's the first vehicle I've got that feels like when you get a new phone and it takes a few hours of setting everything up, fine for me but anyone who isn't tech savvy will need some help. All the car settings plus the charger settings took a bit of time to get right. The tech on it is largely good, speed limit warning, collision warning etc etc. The only one I turn off each time is lane assist, which is pretty poor to be honest. Second little annoyance is the ignition, while it's great that it comes on when you get in, when you adjust yourself in the seat it turns off straight away and comes back on when the weight is back on the seat. Irritating.
Aside from those bit's it's been positive so far. Keyless entry for a van is a game changer when you're in and out of it all day and I enjoy driving it day to day. It's been returning about 2.5 miles a KWh through the cooler temperatures, but now it's a bit more mild it's easy to get over 3 miles/KWh now. Pre heating and cooling is lovely, no scraping the screen when frosty and no need to sweat when the sun has been on it all day.
I'll keep this updated going forwards, if anyone has any questions I'll do my best to answer them!
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