[Dormant] Electric Vehicles

I’ve never been so conflicted about a new car. After all, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of the Volkswagen ID. Buzz. It was delayed for too long, and now arrives with carryover, mediocre software and a high price. Its range is on the low end of middling, its user interface isn’t good and it doesn’t feel as practical as a proper minivan.

Yet one look at it and I can forgive any of these things. I just like it, and I’d be happy to have one.

That’s how powerful the ID. Buzz’s design is. It feels fresh and interesting in a world that is optimized to dreariness. The only failing is one of imagination. VW had the killer design; it’s had it for over a decade when we first saw an electric concept for the reborn Microbus.

What came all these years later is charming enough to be a success. But if the company had doubled down on the vision of what the bus could be, it could have created an aspirational icon. Something full of innovation and clever features, enough to charm people out of any EV skepticism they have. A sign that VW’s electric era will give the brand new relevance in the U.S. That’s not what it this van is. The ID. Buzz is simply a solid people mover with a delightful design.