I can't has cheezburger

Cars are in a rough place right now, especially EVs.

The ID. Buzz is a touch of whimsy in a sea of cars that are getting more homogenous and less colorful.

When you see one on the road, it’s the opposite of seeing a Cybertruck. It’s bright and friendly looking. It comes in fun colors. And although it’s big, it’s got passenger and cargo space for days.

When I went to see one in person, it surprised me. None of the things I expected would annoy me about it were that bad, but the first time I went to look I left the lot without test driving one because it was just so massive.

I decided to look at it again a couple days later and actually take one for a spin, and I fell in love with it.

You notice it from when you first step in and see the pause and play icons on the brake and accelerator pedals. You sit down in the driver’s seat the captain style seats are really comfortable. I really like the more upright position the seats have, and I can’t wait to take a long road trip in this.

Looking out the windshield is super cool. The angular shape of the windshield makes it feel like you’re looking out at a panoramic view of the road. I can’t explain it but it was kind of surreal when I was first driving it.

It’s so full of thoughtful storage and accessories as well. There are USB-C ports all over the car, and there are shelves and compartments aplenty. When you fold down the seats you end up with a massive amount of cargo space (apparently more than a Chevy Suburban, despite the ID. Buzz being a bit smaller).

This car wants to go on a long road trip and it’ll be enjoyable every step of the way.

Driving It

As I have mentioned in other accidental car reviews, driving an EV is… persuasive. I’ve heard computer nerds liken it to switching from a spinning disk hard drive to an SSD, and that feels like an apt comparison.

When you get on an onramp, you can just step on the gas and acceleration doesn’t feel like a problem at all (and this is impressive for a car of this size). No shifting to worry about, just torque as you need it. On paper the ID. Buzz’s acceleration sounds unimpressive (taking 7.4 seconds to go from 0–60), but because you’re not waiting on gear shifts, it’s a non-issue. Also, if you find yourself wanting to pass someone quick on the highway, you can step on the accelerator and the electric drivetrain happily obliges instantly.

Being in an EV comes with other fun features. There’s no engine to start, so you just get in and start it by hitting the brake pedal. There’s a regenerative braking mode that lets you do single-pedal driving because letting off the accelerator engages regenerative braking. That’s a huge quality of life improvement if you’re driving on even a slightly busy street. And one of my favorite features on cold mornings: the ability to remotely turn on climate control, even on a schedule (even though I continue to think the interface for scheduling climate control sucks on these cars).

Driver assistance features are generous. The adaptive cruise control and traffic jam assist feel considerably more natural in stop and go traffic than on the 2020 Audi Q5 I’m coming from. The auto parking feature is kind of delightful; it can literally pull into a parallel parking spot for you. One of my favorite little quality of life improvements is the brake hold feature, where you can press harder on the brake when you stop at a stop light, and it will lock in place so you don’t have to hold it down with your foot while waiting for green.

The Annoyances

Things I thought would annoy me about the ID. Buzz:

• The capacitive buttons everywhere, especially the steering wheel. In practice, I’m not bothered by them as much as I thought I’d be. I’d much rather get knobs back for volume controls though.
• Touch controls for the climate control. Yes, it is annoying, but I can deal.
• Stepping down a luxury level from Audi to VW. This turned out to not be a concern; the fit and finish is comparable to a Q5 (good thing, too; the Buzz is pricier).
• Relatively unimpressive acceleration numbers (they look bad on paper but believe me, the Buzz doesn’t feel slow)

Things that do annoy me about the ID. Buzz:

• The turn signal stalk that has to double as my high beam controls and also the front and rear wiper controls. This is like the world’s worst Bop-It. They could have had a second stalk or something. I do, however, like that the side button on this stalk is dual purpose. You press it and it runs the wipers once, you hard press it and it sprays the front windshield.
• I miss the cruise control stalk from my Audi; once you learned it, it was a much more intuitive way to use cruise control.
• The footprint of the car takes a lot of getting used to coming from a midsize SUV. Getting out of my driveway remains a 5 point turn and the emergency brake thing will sometimes activate as I’m backing up toward the shrubbery (seriously annoying).
• The way the seats and windshield are positioned, if I’m the first car at a stop light I have to crouch down to see the lights.
• Right now the infotainment system is crashing multiple times a week, which is multiple times per week more often than I consider it acceptable for in-car software to have a rebooting-level crash.
• The key fob’s button layout makes no sense (you absolutely have to take it out of your pocket to use it), and the car unlocks on its own when I’m near it. It’s a little unsettling to be at home and get a push notification that your car doors just unlocked.
• The little button to pop open the back hatch requires you to hold it for some reason.
• When I put the vehicle in reverse the volume gets lowered way too low and I can’t hear what’s being said in the podcast I’m listening to and I have to go back.

Software

I mentioned in my Q4 review that Audi’s infotainment software was trash. VW’s is somewhat better, but it’s been super crashy for me. I’ve had multiple hard crashes of my infotainment system this week. The acceptable number of software crashes in cars is zero. The infotainment system absolutely should not crash, and my upper bound for it is one crash a year. I’ve been getting a crash per week lately and I may need to reach out to VW for assistance.

But although both VW and Audi are building on top of Android Automotive, I feel like VW’s got more whimsy in their infotainment system. As I cross mileage milestones it’ll notify me. There are fun seasonal decorations on the home screen too, and user profiles have your picture on them.

And my favorite little delightful feature? My VW iPhone app lets me customize the home screen icon, so my app icon gets to be an orange ID. Buzz. Just perfect! (now, the mobile app itself could use some serious TLC, but overall I’m not mad!)

VW is in a strategic deal with Rivian and as part of that deal they get access to Rivian software. I’m interested in seeing that bear fruit a few years down the road because I believe that’s an area where Rivian is quite strong.

Cost

The top negative reaction to the ID. Buzz right now is a mixture of sticker shock at the price, and a complaint about the range not being adequate. And I hate that take, because it’s literally saying “It’s too expensive, and its most expensive component isn’t expensive enough!”

EVs in the US cost too much right now, largely because automakers have decided they’re only making big EVs in the US.

And when you make an EV bigger, you are firmly committing to a higher price because a big car needs a big battery, and batteries are the most expensive part of an EV.

At a typical MSRP of over $70k, the ID. Buzz comes out looking like the most expensive minivan.

But I wasn’t shopping the ID. Buzz against a Sienna or any other minivan.

The ID. Buzz is shaped like a minivan, but it’s its own thing entirely. It’s modeled after an iconic vehicle. It’s the form factor of a minivan, but it’s cool and eccentric.

For what it’s worth, I’m happy with the price (I took advantage of both the $7500 tax credit and a price reduction of a few thousand on top of that). Well, maybe “happy” is a bit of a stretch.

But the features and the fit and finish of the interior feel appropriate for what I spent (and I’m coming from an Audi Q5 Prestige for reference). Even if VW had sprung for making a more affordable $50k trim level in the US I bet they’d be moving a lot more, and my bougie ass would have still piled on options because I’m high maintenance like that.

Range

When you charge to 80% (which is the recommended default) you get a little over 200 miles of range. Charging to 100% gets you a little over 250 miles.

The ID. Buzz gets grilled a lot over range and I think it’s unjustly maligned.

For perspective, suppose VW released a cool gas powered car and for some reason its tank only provided 250 miles of range. If the car is otherwise the one you want, would a 250 mile gas tank deter you? After all, you can always find a gas station.

But when an EV has the same range, it’s considered a problem.

But it’s not really the range we’re worried about; we’re anxious about the availability of places to charge.

In an alternate universe where literally every single place you stopped had a high speed charger, 250 miles of range isn’t even a worry. In the time it takes to eat a quick lunch or stop to look at a quirky roadside attraction you could add 200 miles of range. If you are making a stop every 3 hours or so to check out something, you’re keeping the car topped off.

A road trip with an EV is totally possible; it just needs planning. It’s possible to spontaneously hop in the car and go somewhere knowing there are charging options, and longer road trips are perfectly doable too.

And EV charging in the US is a developing story, too. In a few years there will surely be thousands more places I can charge my ID. Buzz than there were the day I bought it.

Another important point: I’m not doing multiple 1000+ mile road trips each month (and if that’s your driving lifestyle, you should absolutely think twice about an EV). My day to day driving doesn’t come close to touching the battery’s full capacity, and even if I did a longer drive, like going to the Seattle area, I’d fast charge once when I’m out there and I’d be fine.

I charge at home about once a week (and I usually have over 50 miles of range left when I do so). If I didn’t have a charger at home I could charge at places like Costco or near the gym or some grocery stores.

250 miles of range is only going to really affect me when I take a long road trip. And even then, it will just mean I need to plan for more frequent stops, and the stops will be longer. And even so, I am very excited for road trips in this thing!

---

Closing Thoughts

Automakers in the US need to be making smaller and cheaper EVs. I want VW to make the ID. Bug. VW could price an entry-level model at $30k and give it 200 miles of range, with nicer trims that bring that range up to 300 miles. And it’s an iconic design. It would sell very nicely, and VW could do interesting things with it like make an AWD version. VW should absolutely bring back the eGolf too and give it decent range. They could even make a sporty version with AWD and insane acceleration and range.

It’s a weird time to be buying an EV in the US. The federal government is doing everything it can to hold EVs back for some dumb reason. Affordable EVs are perpetually a couple years away, and the expensive battery packs force automakers to cut costs elsewhere in the car (often one of the reasons you keep seeing real buttons disappearing from cars in favor of touch controls and screens).

Charging infrastructure in the US is still developing. Tesla’s is the most mature but many cars can’t use their network (though this is changing). Electrify America’s charging network is much more sparse and they have a reputation for not taking good care of their charging spots (though anecdotally I hear this has been getting better).

But you get behind the wheel of an EV, and you can’t help but be moved. They are an absolute delight to drive and they unquestionably feel like the future.

For me, the ID. Buzz is a reminder that I love whimsy in my cars, and I will accept nothing less anymore. I don’t think VW is setting sales records with the Buzz (in fact, they recently paused production for a few days because there are too many Buzzes waiting to be purchased), but I hope that they are inspired to make more eccentric, opinionated electric vehicles.

And I’m really encouraged that nobody is mad at the ID. Buzz’s eccentric and opinionated looks; in fact, people seem to love the way it looks. People are balking at its price, not its aesthetic. So I hope that VW learns the right lessons from the first generation of the Buzz.