All-electric Volkswagen ID. California campervan announced

Volkswagen will bring its electric vehicle expertise to the camper van market in the next few years with an ID.Buzz-based ‘ID. California’ campervan, the company has confirmed. 

Announced today after the company’s supervisory board meeting, the new model will be built at VW’s Hannover facility on a new assembly line - production of which has already started. The Hannover plant will produce the ID.Buzz electric van in People Mover (passenger) and Cargo (commercial vehicle) forms from next year, well before the ID. California is launched “in the second half of this decade”. 

Actual details of the new camper have yet to be released, but we know plenty about the ID. Buzz on which it will be based. The vehicle was teased in patterned disguise last month, showing that the production version will maintain key visual details seen on the concept. 

Aimed to provide a modern twist on the iconic Type 2 camper van of the 1950s, the ID.Buzz will be based on the company’s MEB bespoke EV platform. A range of battery sizes, from 48kWh to 111kWh, will be offered - the largest of which is said to give the ID.Buzz a maximum range of around 340 miles. The additional weight of interior fittings and camping equipment could reduce this range in the ID. California, however. 

The ID.Buzz range is expected to kick off with a 201bhp single-motor, rear-wheel drive powertrain option, with higher-powered, dual-motor variants offering four-wheel drive. Like other MEB-based models, it’ll also support rapid charging. 

Dr Casten Intra, chairman of the board of management at VW Commercial Vehicles, says the ID. California “ will combine the ongoing trend towards mobile leisure arrangements with sustainable CO2-neutral mobility.” 

The announcement is also described as “good news” for the firm’s Hannover site, which will be redeveloped to become a multi-brand facility. The move will secure jobs at the site, with VW signing an agreement which rules out any “operational redundancies” until the end of 2029. 

In the near-term, Hannover will produce the T7 Multivan and the last variants of the T6.1 Transporter, with ID.Buzz production starting next year. However, it will also produce the models that emerge from Audi’s Artemis Project, alongside body production of a new electric Bentley, due in 2025.

Click here to read our review of the Volkswagen ID. Buzz concept...