Volkswagen ID Buzz production begins

UPDATE, March 29 2023: Australian timing confirmed for ID models

Volkswagen Australia has today confirmed local launch timing for its ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.Buzz models – get all the details at the links below.

November 2022: ID.4 driven in Australia!

We've now had a chance to drive an overseas ID.4 car in Australia. Get our full story at the link below.

Story continues...

Volkswagen's upcoming all-electric ID. Buzz has entered series production in Germany, with the first examples rolling off the Hannover line.

Steeped in history as Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle's (VWCV) home factory, the Hannover plant will have produced seven generations of the Transporter van before the ID. Buzz's arrival, with the electric vehicle joining the new Transporter T7 and Multivan at the facility.

Both the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo are Hannover's first fully-electric vehicles, following in the tracks of Zwickau and Emden. The preparation to build the EVs took roughly two years, according to Josef Baumert – VWCV's board member for production and logistics.

3

“Over the last two years, the production facility has been continually prepared for the manufacture of the new all-electric vehicles, while the T6.1 and,since last year, the New Multivan, have simultaneously been made here in Hannover”, Baumert said.

“We are now manufacturing three ‘Bulli’ [Transporter/minibus] product lines with three different drive system concepts in our plant here. This means complexity makes huge demands of our workforce.”

With roughly 4000 staff on the books, preparing Hannover for electrification will allow Volkswagen to produce up to 15,000 units of the ID. Buzz family this year, and more than 130,000 annually in the future.

3

“The start of serial production of the all-electric ID. Buzz is an important milestone in the electrification of our fleet and for the manufacturing operation at the Hannover site," said VWCV chairman Carsten Intra.

"The vehicle is a key pillar in the full utilisation of our factory and is thus safeguarding the future of the site. Now it’s finally here, a moment that the staff at VWCV have worked hard towards over the past years."

It's unclear as to whether the ID. Buzz will come to Australia, with Volkswagen currently not offering any of its MEB platform-based EVs to the local market.