Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo Review 2024

If you need a working vehicle for your business, but you’re in the rather unique position where style is more important to you than outright capacity, and you’re prepared to pay a sizable premium in order to get it, then the ID.Buzz is perfect for you. And if your business is the type of business that might benefit from the ID.Buzz’s cool image and aspirational status as you rock up at jobs, then so much the better. Your business will probably have to operate locally, though, so that the limited electric range won’t be a problem.

We can’t see a lot of point in specifying the dual-motor four-wheel-drive 4Motion version of the ID.Buzz Cargo. It’s more expensive, the range is poorer, while so is the payload. The only real advantage it gets you is raising the permissible towing limit for a braked trailer from 1200kg to 1800kg.

We can see plenty of wisdom in making the upgrade from Commerce trim to Commerce Plus, though. It adds a reversing camera and power folding door mirrors, which really help in tight parking spaces, and more driver assistance features are on hand to help keep you out of trouble. We’d say it’s a no-brainer, but the upgrade does look very expensive considering what you get, so think carefully before making the decision whether the extra pieces of kit are worth it for you.

In short, none. We simply can’t think of another commercial vehicle that gets anywhere near the VW ID.Buzz for style, prestige and sheer want-one factor. It’s not the biggest or most practical of commercial vehicles, so on that score, it’s a rival for more compact offerings such as the Mercedes Citan or Renault Kangoo, both of which are available with an all-electric powertrain. However, The ID.Buzz is a very expensive option for its size, so it’s priced more in line with bigger, far more practical rivals such as the electric Ford Transit Custom.

In the passenger version of the ID.Buzz, the cabin has a cheerful colour scheme to match its cool image and some fairly plush-feeling materials to keep things feeling classy. In the commercial vehicle version, though, this is pared back a bit. The plastics on show are harder and rather more functional - which is no bad thing for a working vehicle but does make things feel rather more basic - while the colour scheme fades to a no-nonsense grey hue. Compared with other vans, however, the finish feels pretty good, and everything feels very solidly assembled.

All versions of the Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo get the same basic infotainment system, which centres around a 12.9-inch touchscreen tacked on top of the dashboard. On the base-level Commerce version, the system supports DAB radio, Bluetooth wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB, and there are four USB-C ports dotted around the cabin. Upgrade to the Commerce Plus, and you also get satellite navigation thrown in. On both trims, though, voice activation is an optional extra, which seems a bit mean.

It’s the same system that features in most of Volkswagen’s ID cars, and it has the same foibles. Some of the glitchy software of early cars has now been sorted out, but the annoying slider controls for volume and temperature remain: these aren’t backlit in pre-facelift examples from before late 2024, making them virtually impossible to use at night, but this was remedied during the aforementioned overhaul. Compared to some far more complex systems, the Volkswagen’s user interface is fairly easy to find your way around, and there are some handy shortcut icons to take you to the most used functions quickly and easily, but finding more peripheral functions can still be a faff, and physical controls for functions like the ventilation would be easier still.

The Volkswagen ID.Buzz is far from being the biggest van of its type. In terms of dimensions, it measures 4,712mm long, 1,985mm wide (not including mirrors), and 1,899mm tall, while the wheelbase stands at 2,989mm.

It’s perhaps not a massive surprise, then, that it’s not the most capable load-carrier of its type, either. The loadbay measures 1,230mm wide between the wheelarches, and 2,208 long when fitted with the standard side-hinged wing doors, or 2232mm when fitted with the optional top-hinged tailgate. Those wing doors can be unhooked from their stoppers to allow them to open at 180-degrees to the load entrance, aiding your access to the space. You can also gain access to the space through one of the sliding doors on either side of the vehicle.

Those dimensions give the ID.Buzz Cargo a total load volume 3.9 cubic metres, which is no great shakes and equivalent to what you get in smaller rivals. Payload is where the ID.Buzz really struggles, though. The lowest-spec Commerce version has a figure of 710kg, while that drops to 693kg for the Commerce Plus version. Choose a 4Motion model, meanwhile, and the figure drops below 600kg. The Gross Vehicle Weight - GVW - meanwhile, is 3,150kg.

The loadbay gets a wooden floor lining as standard on both trims, but a hard-wearing, wipe-down plastic one can be specified as an optional extra. The loadbay has bright interior lighting and steps leading in from the two sliding side doors, and the step on the driver’s side of the loadbay has a hidden compartment for storing your charging cable.

The front of the VW ID.Buzz Cargo has a three-seater bench seat, and while the middle ‘jump seat’ is a little narrower than those either side, there’s not a great deal in it, and the cabin has enough width to accommodate three sets or shoulders reasonably comfortably. Everyone sits in quite an upright position, but there’s plentiful headroom and legroom, plus space for everyone’s feet. There’s a decent amount of cabin storage on offer, with a couple of cupholders, a decent glovebox and some small door bins, plus a variety of cubbies in the top of the dashboard. However, you don’t get overhead storage shelves at the top of the windscreen like you do in many rivals.

Early on in its life, the ID.Buzz Cargo was only available in one powertrain format. This had a single 204 PS electric motor driving the rear wheels through a single-speed transmission. This was fed by a battery with a usable capacity of 77kWh, and the official 0–62mph acceleration time was given at 10.2 seconds.

We tried it, however, and it felt a great deal nippier than that, bursting off the line with real zip. The level of performance flattens out rather more as you go faster, but it never feels underpowered or lacking performance.

Changes were made during the 2025 model year facelift (carried out in the second half of 2024), however. Battery capacity was hiked a little up to 79kWh, while the power output was hiked a lot, right up to 286PS. This trimmed the 0-62mph dash time down to 7.9 seconds. We still haven’t tried this version yet, though, so we can’t tell you what effect this has had on the sensation of performance.

A twin-motor four-wheel drive 4Motion model was also added to the range, which had a further increased output of 340PS. Volkswagen’s own information said that this version had precisely the same 7.9-second 0-62mph sprint time, despite the extra power, which we thought odd. And, when we queried it with Volkswagen representatives, they didn’t seem to know one way or the other, bizarrely. 

The figures also suggest that the 4Motion model has a towing capacity of 1800kg, up from 1200kg in the rear-wheel drive version. Heaven knows whether that figure is accurate.

Go for the entry-level version of the VW ID.Buzz Cargo, and the official WLTP range figure you get is 275 miles. That doesn’t sound like a huge amount by electric car standards, but by electric van standards, it’s actually very good thanks to the vehicle's comparatively large 79kWh battery. The figure drops to 258 miles if you choose the 4Motion four-wheel drive version, meanwhile. 

What’s more, all of that only applies to post-facelift versions from late 2024 onwards. Buy a used example from before that, and the slightly smaller 77kWh battery means that the official range stands at around 256 miles, even though it has far less power. And that’s before you factor in any battery degradation that may have taken place.

In any case, don’t rely on replicating these figures in the real world. You might get close if you confine yourself solely to urban use, but long motorway jaunts will see your achievable range plummet, as will cold weather.

Obviously, with an electric motor rather than a clattery old diesel engine, the ID.Buzz Cargo is quieter than drivers of traditional vans will be used to. You hear very little from the motor from inside the vehicle, while on the outside of the vehicle, a subtle synthetic noise is pumped out into the atmosphere to warn pedestrians of the Buzz’s impending approach.

Wind noise is reasonably well contained given the Buzz’s bluff shape, and while there’s some road noise to be heard at motorway speeds, it certainly doesn’t get to bothersome levels.

As standard, the VW ID.Buzz Cargo with a fairly modest amount of safety kit. You get automatic emergency braking that can detect pedestrians and cyclists, plus intelligent speed limit assist, but that’s about it in terms of driver assistance tech. There are front-, side- and curtain airbags to help keep you from harm if a smash becomes avoidable. The Commerce Plus version, meanwhile, adds a small suite of extra ADAS functions including adaptive cruise control, side assist, lane change assist.

Nevertheless The ID.Buzz Cargo has achieved the Platinum standard in Euro NCAP’s commercial vehicle ratings, which are more of a measure of the driver assistance tech fitted to a vehicle and how effective it is, rather than a measure of crash safety. What’s more, the passenger version of the ID.Buzz has scored the full five-star rating in the same body’s crash testing programme, so the Cargo should be a pretty safe bet on that score as well.

Look at the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, and you might have some cause for concern in this area. Not only did Volkswagen finish a fairly uninspiring 21st out of 29 carmakers in the manufacturer standings for general customer satisfaction, it was also named as the fourth least reliable manufacturer in the study. It should be said, though, that it was older versions of older high-volume models such as the Polo and Golf that brought the brand’s average down, and the newer ones performed better. It’s currently unclear how much - if any - influence the ID.Buzz had on this result.

What’s more clear, though, is the warranty you get. The three-year, 100,000-mile cover you get is better than the three-year, 60,000-mile cover you get on the firm’s cars, but rivals from brands like Toyota do even better. The battery, meanwhile, is protected for eight years and 100,000 miles.

According to information supplied by Volkswagen, the Commerce version of the ID.Buzz Cargo sits in group 38 for insurance, and the Commerce Plus sits in group 39, while the 4Motion version also sits in group 39. That seemed slightly odd to us given that the 4Motion model has an additional 60-odd horsepower over the other two models, and when we questioned it with Volkswagen representatives, nobody seemed entirely sure of the answer. Still, until we’re told otherwise, we can only go on what Volkswagen tells us. As a result, expect premiums to be a little on the high side.

Because the Volkswagen ID.Buzz is fully electric, you don’t pay any VED road tax on it whatsoever. However, that’ll change in April 2025, when electric vans will become liable for the same VED charges as their petrol and diesel counterparts. The current annual VED rate for combustion-engined commercial vehicles is £335, but that will likely go up again by the time the cut-off period for electric exemption comes around.

The ID.Buzz Cargo is available in two trim levels known as Commerce and Commerce Plus. The Commerce looks a little basic with black bumpers and steel wheels with plastic wheeltrims, while you also get heated front seats, climate control, cruise control, front- and rear parking sensors, and heated, electrically adjusting door mirrors. That’s on top of all the infotainment and safety gear we talked about earlier.

The Commerce Plus version looks a bit cooler with body-coloured bumpers and alloy wheels (and looks are a bit more important with the ID.Buzz than they are with most vans), and it also adds some other desirable stuff such as power folding door mirrors and a reversing camera, a heated windscreen, and a leatherette steering wheel, plus the suite of extra ADAS features including adaptive cruise control, side assist, and lane change assist.