Hop on the magic bus: VW debuts souped-up AWD ID. Buzz GTX with 335 hp
Lovers of the retro VW bus can get a sporty, all-wheel-drive, all-electric version with 335 hp – the most powerful ID. Buzz to date. Today, Volkswagen has followed up the recently announced ID.3 GTX and ID.7 GTX with the debut of its high-performance microbus Volkswagen ID. Buzz GTX.
Announced today, the high-performance family hauler comes with all-wheel drive for the first time thanks to a dual-motor system as well as charging speeds up to 200 kilowatts and a towing capacity of up to 4,000 pounds – that’s twice the towing rate of the single-motor van. The bi-motor system is good for a total output of 335 horsepower, making the hot electric van the most powerful ID. Buzz available.
The van will be available in two wheelbase options. The standard-wheelbase option comes with a 79-kilowatt-hour battery, compared to the long-wheelbase option powered by an 86 kWh battery. The smaller unit can charge up 185 kW from a DC charger, while the larger pack can be recharged at up to 200 kW, meaning both can be topped up from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes. VW didn’t offer range specification but stated that both versions can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 6.5 seconds – which seems strange since presumably the bigger battery version will weigh more, but VW didn’t supply weight configurations in any case. Top speed is capped at 99 mph/160 kph.
The standard ID. Buzz GTX allows you to tow as much as 3,968 pounds, while the longer version with bigger battery can haul 3,527 pounds. The 4MOTION system provides traction advantages when towing a trailer on wet or loose surfaces, and VW says the vehicle is ideal for towing boats or horse trailers even on slippery ground.
Like the regular ID. Buzz, the GTX comes in either five- or six-seat configurations with the standard-wheelbase version, while the long-wheelbase model adds the option of a seven-seat layout.
As with the other GTX models, the ID. Buzz sees some styling tweaks with freshly designed bumpers, a new honeycomb intake grille, and a flashy Cherry Red paint job. You can opt for standard 19-inch wheels with two optional sets of 21-inch alloys.
Plus inside the vehicle, you’ll see some larger touchscreens (12.9 inches compared to 12 inches) and optional head-up display, and illuminated touch sliders for air conditioning and volume. The ID. Buzz GTX also features IDA voice assistance with ChatGPT integration and a Wellness app with preconfigured programs to “improve well-being while driving or charging.” Also, the ID. Buzz GTX features Volkswagen’s next-gen exit warning system to alert drivers if a cyclist or other vehicle is approaching as you open the door.
The ID. Buzz GTX goes on sale in Europe and the UK this year, with pre-sales starting this summer (we’ll have to wait until then to find out the price). As for the US, an all-wheel-drive version may make its way over, but for now only the longer-wheel-base, rear-wheel-drive ID. Buzz version will arrive later this year – the microbus’s first return stateside in more than 20 years. Since the US model will be imported from Hanover, Germany, it won’t likely qualify for the $7,500 tax credit.
Photos: Volkswagen
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EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.
December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.
Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.
EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.
(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)
Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.
However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.
What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.
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Tesla is now claiming that Cybertruck was the ‘best-selling electric pickup in US’ last year despite not even reporting the number of deliveries.
There’s a lot of context needed here.
As we often highlighted, Tesla is sadly one of, if not the most, opaque automakers regarding sales reports.
Tesla doesn’t break down sales per model or even region.
For comparison, here’s Ford’s Q4 2024 sales report compared to Tesla’s:
You could argue that Tesla has fewer models than Ford, and that’s true, but Tesla’s report literally has two lines despite having six different models.
There’s no reason not to offer a complete breakdown like all other automakers other than trying to make it hard to verify the health of each vehicle program.
This has been the case with the Cybertruck. Tesla is bundling its Cybertruck deliveries with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi deliveries.
Despite this lack of disclosure, Tesla has been able to claim that the Cybertruck has become “the best-selling electric pickup truck” in the US in 2024:
It very well might be true. Ford disclosed 33,510 F-150 Lightning truck deliveries in the US in 2024 while most estimates are putting Cybertruck deliveries at around 40,000 units.
Those are global deliveries, but Tesla only delivered the Cybertruck in the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2024, and most of the deliveries are believed to be in the US.
However, there’s essential context needed here, as we highlighted in our recent ‘Tesla Cybertruck sales are disastrous‘ article.
First off, Tesla had a backlog of over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck that it has been building since 2019. This led many to believe Tesla already had years of demand baked in for the truck and that production would be the constraint.
However, based on estimates, again, because Tesla refuses to disclose the data, Cybertruck deliveries were either flat or down in Q4 versus Q3 despite Tesla introducing cheaper versions of the vehicle and ramping up production.
Again, that’s after just about 40,000 deliveries.
Furthermore, with almost 11,000 deliveries in Q4 in the US, Ford more likely than not outsold Cybertruck with the F-150 Lightning in Q4.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is in damage control here. There’s no doubt that it is having issues selling the Cybertruck.
Inventory is full of Cybertrucks and Tesla is now discounting them and offering free lifetime Supercharging.
Tesla is great at ramping up production, and it’s clear the Cybertruck is not production-constrained anymore. It is demand-constrained despite having over 1 million reservations.
Again, those reservations were made before Tesla unveiled the production version, which happened to have less range and cost significantly more.
The upcoming cheaper single motor version should help with demand, but I have serious doubts Tesla can ramp this program up to more than 100,000 units in the US.
As a reminder, Tesla installed a production capacity of 250,000 units annually and Musk said he could see Tesla selling 500,000 Cybertrucks per year.
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