► New race-themed electric van
► VW ID Buzz Cargo at LA show
► Zero emissions, lashings of space
Volkswagen is deadly serious about turning itself into the world’s premier electric car manufacturer – so it was only natural that the message at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show was all about EVs. The new VW ID Buzzo Cargo was a motorsport-flavoured electric van, designed to reinforce the brand’s commitment to electrifying every strata of its range.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen the Buzz Cargo; it first popped up in September 2018, but it bore a new livery at LA – appropriately enough it was spruced up to act as a support vehicle for the ID R Pikes Peak electric racer sitting alongside.
So there’s a blue-and-white VW motorsport colour scheme and lashings of space inside to store the car parts and accessories necessary for race weekend.
VW ID Buzz Cargo: electric car specs and creds
Based on the Volkswagen group’s new MEB electric car architecture that’s nearing production readiness, the ID Buzz Cargo has a 201bhp electric motor at the rear axle and the range is estimated at between 200-340 miles, depending on battery spec.
The deliver space is a natural target for electrification: during its press conference, VW claimed that 11.7 billion packages were delivered last year in the US alone, an increase of 8% on the year before. Many of those parcels would have been dispatched by gas-guzzling old-tech vans – and that CO2 footprint is hardly great for an increasingly e-commerce society.
With delivery trucks and vans making up 7% of urban traffic yet contributing 17% of pollution and congestion costs, a silent, electric van like the ID Buzz Cargo could be just the thing to clean up city streets.