The manufacturer presented Wednesday evening in a video broadcast online this new vehicle called "ID.Buzz", a member of the "ID" family, a flagship range of electrification, in which Volkswagen is investing tens of billions of euros.
"It's one of the icons of automotive history," remarked boss Herbert Diess.
"Volkswagen has long tried to revive the bus, but only electrification made it possible."
"It's a great joy for me," he added.
Borrowing the round shapes of the first models that made the glory of the minibus in the 1960s and 1970s, this electric version "embodies the turning point of Volkswagen", judges Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, expert in the German automotive sector.
In addition to the tourism model which "serves the image" of the brand, VW will present a utility version: a "particularly important" model for "a larger market", he adds.
– “Hippies of the climate crisis” –
The rear-engined van was born from the inspiration of a Dutch importer, Ben Pon.
During a visit to the headquarters of Volkswagen, in Wolfsburg (north), in 1947, he noticed a vehicle cobbled together by factory workers to load equipment.
Seduced, he drew a sketch from it and ended up convincing VW, which started mass production in March 1950, creating the second model in the group's young history after the Beetle.
Vintage Volkswagen vans parked in a garage after being fully restored by mechanics from the "T1 specialist" company, on November 3, 2016 in Florence ALBERTO PIZZOLI AFP/Archives
The chubby van, a symbol of freedom of thought and travel, has had particular success in the United States, where it has established itself in particular thanks to Californian surfers.
"Mysterious machine" in which the Scoubidou cartoon team travels, omnipresent in the hit American film "Little Miss Sunshine", the Combi even had the honors of the Pixar cartoon "Cars", where it is represented as the features of a car...hippie.
Volkswagen wants to make the myth bear fruit: the Combi which "helped write the history of the Flower Power movement" becomes "a car for the Fridays for future generation", "the hippies of the climate crisis", judges Mr. Dudenhöffer.
The ID.
Buzz "takes the lifestyle" that the combi represented and "transposes it into the current era", launched the boss of the VW brand, Ralf Brandstätter.
It will make its first public appearance on Friday in Texas at the South by Southwest festival, with Mr. Diess calling the return to the United States of this cult model a "great opportunity for the Volkswagen brand".
– Other adventures –
It remains to convince fans of old "Bulli" - the small name of the Combi in German - among whom the electric version of the van is talking.
The ID.Buzz "has taken on the V-shape of the T1", the first model of the famous bus, notes Mélanie Wolf, 33, a member of a club of enthusiasts in Bavaria.
With her companion Tobias Toplak, 43, she travels regularly in a 1973 Combi motorhome version – as for a tour of Norway in 2019.
A Volkswagen van parked at a campsite in Japan, September 19, 2021 Philip FONG AFP / Archives
"I'm curious to see how Volkswagen will bridge the big gap between the spirit of the Bulli and the hipster world," Tobias quips.
This spirit is above all "the feeling of freedom, independence", so many values in his eyes undermined by the limited autonomy of electrical technology and dependence on a charging network.
In the absence of official figures from the manufacturer, the autonomy of the ID.Buzz was estimated at nearly 400 km during a test by the German auto club ADAC.
"In the most beautiful places, in the middle of nowhere, where you spend a night, there will not even be a charging station in 20 years", exclaims Roland Gräbner, 52, proud owner of four buses including one T3 from 1986 with which "we have already crossed Europe".
The old Combi "is just so flexible", adds his companion Britta Kellermann, even if she finds the idea of an electric minibus "exciting".
With the ID.Buzz, concludes Hans Toma, 62 and owner of a 1978 "T2", "the adventures will certainly be different".
© 2022 AFP