Volkswagen ID.Buzz - long-term review

Wolfsburg, we have a problem. After years as the design darling of minted families everywhere who need something very spacious, with loads of seats, that’s kind to the air quality at school drop off… the Buzz has its first real rival in that space. And it’s staring down not just some light competition, but potential annihilation.

You see, ever since we first saw the ID. Buzz Concept at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, we’ve been gaga for its retro styling and ultra-practical interior. Deep down though, we’ve always known it was a bit overpriced. With prices now ranging from £60,005 for the five-seat ‘Life’ up to £69,059 for the seven-seat ‘GTX’ it’s a full £10k more than the VW Multivan. Want to save even more? You’re only real budget seven-seat EV alternative was dropping down to something far less plush like the Peugeot E-Rifter, which suffers from a pretty dire real-world range.

But no longer, because those pesky Koreans have popped up again with a stroke of pure genius in the Kia PV5 – our new Family Car of the Year. A proper, purpose-built EV van with all the space of a Buzz, that drives just as well and looks pretty funky in a futuristic rather than a retro way. Currently the 160bhp, 71kWh version’s numbers are down slightly on the VW (with a WLTP range of 256-miles) but a bigger battery version could be on the way. And yes, it's interior perhaps isn’t as playful and colourful, but I assure you all that will pale into insignificance when you hear you can have one, with the bigger battery and fully-loaded, for £38k. And they’re promising a camper-van version down the line, something VW has backtracked on with the Buzz.

I mean, it’s a bit of a no-brainer, isn’t it? And a potential scud missile to Buzz sales figures. Don’t get me wrong, the Buzz remains a unique premium offering, and is no-less brilliant at what it does (as proved by seeing off the Ioniq 9 in our seven-seat EV twin test in last month’s magazine) but the sell just got a whole lot harder.