The development team at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Passenger Cars has created and developed the VW ID.Buzz for over five years. In a new documentary, a VW film crew looks at:
How the designers managed to transfer the basic concept of the legendary original T1 Microbus and the styling of the concept vehicle into an all-electric bus.
How the engineers were able to satisfy the safety elements, dynamics and practicality that customers demand.
What the production and components staff had to do to ensure that the ID.Buzz is able to be built alongside other so-called “Bulli” models (T6.1 and Multivan) on one line in Hanover, Germany.
Developing the electric Microbus and a panel van called for cross-brand cooperation and a division of labour, with designers and engineers looking for the best possible concept that combined all the requirements of the vehicles. The first few hand-built prototypes helped decide whether the design data and simulations from the virtual world have been transferred to the real world.
The proof of quality lies in testing. To ensure that the ID. Buzz fulfills Volkswagen’s highest quality requirements, the electric vehicle was tested over a complex and gruelling marathon—all over Europe and under extreme conditions. These included extreme heat, in arid and tropical climes, and extreme cold, from dry to dank, along with many places with dirt roads. After this, track testing simulated rain, snow, ice and dusty conditions to identify any potential for problems.
The ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo demonstrated the handling potential of their all-round independent suspension on snow and ice in the far north of Scandinavia. Other aspects examined during cold weather testing were the design of materials, the electric and electronic functions, the chassis set-up, acceleration, braking and steering at low coefficients of friction, and the whole vehicle's thermal management.
“The Microbus is a vehicle that has always particularly excelled through its everyday practicality”, says Stefan Lutz, Technical Project Manager for the model line at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “We therefore test the ID. Buzz under various conditions and weather situations. The motors, fluids, every system and operating process, the indicators and displays must all work in harmony. It is only by doing this that we can be sure that the vehicle can be driven optimally in every region of the world.”
Watch all the coverage in the full documentary below.
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