2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Chicagoland Review
2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz
Minivan coolness!
By Larry Nutson
Chicago Bureau Chief
The Auto Channel
More likely than not, I am among the many who say there is a lot of buzz about VW’s new ID. Buzz. It seems the general population is quite tuned-in. Or is it, abuzz!
A bit of advanced planning had me spending a long weekend around the Christmas holidays driving the ID. Buzz. My family would be visiting and I could fill three of the rear seats with my grandchildren, ages 8, 6 and 3. They loved it! As we drove the streets of Chicago pedestrians turned heads. We got waves. Many a thumbs-up were to be seen. Vehicles in the traffic lanes next to us lowered their widow and wanted to chat. I heard shouts of “cool van”, “looking good”, and “oh, it’s not too big and a nice size for the city.”
In a world where nearly everyone wants to drive some form of SUV, be it a crossover utility (UV) or a full-size, trailer-hauling behemoth, the ID. Buzz offers exceptional design and functionality that challenges this norm.
Minivans, once a very popular family-hauler, have fallen out of favor to a certain extent. Perhaps they’re not cool, or sexy. Perhaps they represent the soccer-mom or soccer-dad image. Perhaps the lack of availability of all-wheel or four-wheel drive drew people to UVs. Before the Covid-19 pandemic gripped all of us about 400,000 minivans were sold in the U.S. each year. You might ask: With the popularity of utility vehicles who is buying a minivan? Well! Families with children under age 12 make up a big portion of minivan buyers. Minivans are also purchased by active lifestyle empty nesters.
I’ve concluded, from my own experience combined with observations of my daughter with her three young ones I mentioned previously, minivans are better than UVs when it comes to certain functionality and a certain life-stage. I won’t hesitate to say, young families with young children are better served by a minivan during a child’s early, single-digit-age years. Two power-operated sliding doors, a large rear harch, and a low load floor height makes for easy loading of the children.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2025 Fuel Economy Guide provides a convenient (make hot link) summary of minivans on the market today
VW’s spiritual successor to the iconic microbus, the ID. Buzz minivan is available in three trims—Pro S, Pro S Plus, and the launch-only 1st Edition. The ID. Buzz offers flexibility with rear-wheel-drive and 4Motion all-wheel-drive configurations. Rear-wheel-drive variants deliver 282 horsepower and an EPA-estimated combined city/highway range of 234 miles, while 4Motion models provide 335 horsepower and an EPA-estimated combined city/highway range of 231 miles.
The entry-level ID. Buzz Pro S is priced at $59,995 MSRP. A rear-wheel-drive only model, the Pro S offers a second-row bench seat to accommodate up to seven passengers. Three single-tone exterior color options and two interior color worlds are available.
Pro S Plus pricing starts at $63,495 MSRP for RWD and $67,995 for 4Motion AWD. Pro S Plus is available in three interior color worlds, two single-tone exterior colors or for an additional $995, eight two-tone exteriors are available. On Pro S Plus rear-wheel-drive models, bench seating is standard, with an available captain’s chair package for $695 with seating for six. Captain’s chairs and a heated windshield come standard with Pro S Plus 4Motion AWD models.
The launch-only 1st Edition starts at $65,495 MSRP for RWD and $69,995 MSRP for 4Motion AWD. It is offered in one interior and five two-tone exteriors. Rear-wheel-drive 1st Edition models only offer a 2nd-row rear bench, while 4Motion 1st Edition models only offer captain’s chairs. Destination charge for all ID. Buzz models is $1,550.
Dimensionally, the ID. Buzz is about the same length and width as a VW Atlas Cross Sport utility and has more interior room than the 3-row Atlas utility, with a long wheelbase of 127.5 inches and an overall length of 195.4 inches. The ID. Buzz sits about 5 inches taller than the Atlas family at 76.2 inches, so it has a similar height and seating position to full-size pickups and is 78.1 inches wide. Cargo volume is 18.6 cubic feet behind the third row, 75.5 cubic feet behind the second row, and a massive 145.5 cubic feet with the second-row seats folded and third row removed. The 3-row Atlas has only 55.5 cubic feet behind the second row, but it does have a bit more behind the third row at 20.6 cubic feet.
A hot topic when it comes to BEVs is driving range. The EPA-estimated combined city/highway range on a full 100% charge is 234 miles for rear-wheel-drive ID. Buzz models, with an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 90 MPGe in city driving; 75 MPGe on the highway; and 83 MPGe in combined city/highway driving. The EPA-estimated combined city/highway range for the ID. Buzz 4Motion models is 231 miles, with an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 87 MPGe in city driving; 74 MPGe in highway driving, and 80 MPGe in combined city/highway driving.
Note that the highway driving MPGe ratings are lower than those for the city. That is a characteristic of BEVs. Correspondingly, city driving range will be greater than the EPA combined range. The combined city/highway EPA-rating is determined following a series of EPA standardized lab test procedures that mimic real world conditions starting with a full 100% battery charge. Using a bit of math reveals the ID. Buzz city driving range is in the neighborhood of 250 miles. Yes, the best use-case for a BEV is in lower speed, stop-and-go city driving. Your actual driving range will vary depending on driving conditions, ambient temperature, how you drive and maintain your vehicle, battery pack age/condition, and other factors.
More detailed information on the VW ID. Buzz can be found at www.vw.com. When EV shopping, the smart deal is leasing. The lease payment terms have factored in a $7,500 EV Incentive which comes from the Federal EV Tax Credit. An important element of this is the tax credit cap on household income does not apply when any EV is leased. So, if you need a second, or third, or perhaps even fourth car in your household fleet this is a smart way to go. We’ll have to wait and see if the new Washington, DC leadership changes this.
The all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz has been named the North American Utility Vehicle of the Year and has also been named as Green Car Reports’ Best Car to Buy 2025.
The ID. Buzz comes with a three-year charging plan from Electrify America, including three years of the Electrify America Pass+ membership with Plug&Charge and 500 kWh of complimentary charging. Pass+ members save about 25% compared to the Electrify America Guest and Pass member base charging rate.
At this point in time I see a BEV being used as a secondary vehicle in a household, for most. And yes, for some a BEV could be the only vehicle. Millennial generation families living in an urban or suburban single-family home with a garage would find the ID. Buzz a perfect second car. Typically driving around 30 miles per day to take children to school or day care, carpool to a play date, grocery shop, visit the dry cleaner and so on makes for perfect EV usage.
Like humans, EVs find moderate temperatures at around 70°F to be the most amenable. You usually won’t need to charge every night. For routine weekly at-home over-night charging a Level 2-240 volt charger at your residence is key to a good ownership experience. If you live in a cold climate area it is best to be able to garage a BEV. Say goodbye to buying gasoline.
As for public chargers, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program (NEVI) supports charger installation along the US interstate and highway system. Subsequently, it will support local installations. Each of the 50 states is responsible to award contacts and manage their installation plans. The goal is completion by 2030. Patience, please.
![]() |
The ID. Buzz has been on sale in Europe for about a year now. 28,700 were sold in 2024 for both private and commercial use. Enjoy the photo an ID. Buzz at work in Zurich, Switzerland.
VW says, “The ID. Buzz is more than just a vehicle, it’s an experience that delivers more smiles per mile.”
Happy motoring! The future is electric.
© 2025 Larry Nutson, the Chicago Car Guy