VW creates a new Buzz! Volkswagen's camper 先頭 has long been a favourite with everyone from surfers to families - now here comes the electric one
Grow your hair long, dig out your beads, don your kaftans and get ready to 攻撃する,衝突する the hippy 追跡する again.
On the road to San Francisco or Marrakesh, one 乗り物 above all encapsulated the 1960s spirit of flower-力/強力にする and 解放する/自由な-love ― the Volkswagen Type 2 'Microbus' built between 1950 and 1979 in Europe.
It is arguably the best known Volkswagen after the 初めの Beetle and now it's been reincarnated in 21st-century guise as a 'green' fully electric 無-放出/発行s model called the ID Buzz.
We've been fortunate enough to 実験(する) a pre-生産/産物 実験(する) mule - which explains the wacky paint 職業 designed to hide its curves and indents - ahead of the 乗り物's 十分な 明らかにする/漏らす.?
In disguise: The VW ID Buzz has a 一時的な colour 計画/陰謀 ahead of its 開始する,打ち上げる next month
On the beach
A favourite の中で surfers, there are thousands still on the road, lovingly 回復するd and 心にいだくd, spawning fan clubs and 雇うd out to holiday- 製造者s smitten with the compact size but practical 業績/成果.
Over the years it has had lots of 指名するs ― both 公式の/役人 and 非公式の: 'Type 2', 'Microbus', 'Kombi' 'Bus', and Transporter.
I have fond memories of a 2,000-mile family trip in a 有望な orange 後部-engine VW campervan in my 早期に teens as we 長,率いるd from Newcastle to the Channel フェリー(で運ぶ), across フラン, into Germany's beautiful 黒人/ボイコット Forest, skirting the アルプス山脈 into Austria.?
Even though it won't be a cheap 選択 ― 推定する/予想する prices to start from around £50,000 ― it'll sell like hot cakes.
Road worthy
I travelled to Volkswagen's UK (警察,軍隊などの)本部 in Milton Keynes ― a city designed for cars and with more roundabouts than a children's funfair ― to take one for a spin.?
As with the 初めの, there will be two 見解/翻訳/版s. The first is a 基準 '非軍事の' five-seater ID Buzz for families, couples and adventurers, which is the 見解/翻訳/版 I drove.
Coming soon: 生産/産物 of the new ID Buzz starts this summer with first UK 配達/演説/出産s planned from autumn and order 調書をとる/予約するs 開始 in May
All electric: 開始する,打ち上げる 版s of the new ID Buzz will be propelled by a 150kW electric モーター on the 後部 axle, with a two-モーター all-wheel 運動 見解/翻訳/版 推定する/予想するd to follow
On the road: Ray gets behind the wheel of the 基準 '非軍事の' five-seater ID Buzz, 的d at? for families, couples and adventurers
Though designed as a people 運送/保菌者, work is 進行中で creating campervan 見解/翻訳/版s, with everything 含むing the kitchen 沈む, for staycations and more.
There's also a 商業の ID Buzz 貨物 先頭 variant ― with a three-seater (法廷の)裁判 seat at the 前線 but without the 後部 windows and (happily for 買い手s) 免除された from 付加価値税.
Will it fit in my garage? Volkswagen ID Buzz?
生産/産物 of the new ID Buzz starts this summer with first UK 配達/演説/出産s planned from autumn and order 調書をとる/予約するs 開始 in May.
I …に出席するd the 明かすing of the 初めの 概念 見解/翻訳/版 at the Detroit 自動車 Show in 2017 when its retro look with a modern 新たな展開 原因(となる)d a 動かす.?
Climbing inside, I was すぐに struck by how much that sensation 似ているd the 初めの.?
It's a high and 命令(する)ing upright sitting position.
開始する,打ち上げる 版s of the new ID Buzz will be propelled by a 選び出す/独身 150kW electric モーター on the 後部 axle, with a two-モーター all-wheel 運動 見解/翻訳/版 推定する/予想するd to follow. It also has a 77kWh 殴打/砲列.
And the vivid 幻覚的な colour 計画/陰謀 on my 乗り物 is 現実に a light disguise ahead of the 公式の/役人 明かすing next month.?
Although, I'm not the first person to 示唆する it be 申し込む/申し出d as a 基準 colour palette ― it's brilliant.?
The car has two 事情に応じて変わる doors at the 後部 ― one each 味方する ― which makes it 平易な to get in and out of.
Then there's a hefty 量 of space for luggage (1,121 litres) and even more if you put 負かす/撃墜する the 後部 seats.
There's a handy 減少(する)-負かす/撃墜する 負担ing sill when you open up at the 後部. It'll 牽引する a トン behind it.
Inside and out
Ahead of the 公式の/役人 開始する,打ち上げる, 列s of the dashboard 削減する were covered up. But I got a good sense of a simple, 同時代の design with shades of a 1960s ice-cream parlour colour palette.
Once in that high 運動ing position, the 運動 switch is on a stalk 近づく the steering wheel, with a 新たな展開-今後 switch that 似ているs the 手渡す movement on an old can opener. 進行中で it offe rs a smooth but 急速な/放蕩な-paced 運動.?
最高の,を越す 速度(を上げる) is 90mph, which is 急速な/放蕩な enough for a fun family runaround. Acceleration, 範囲 and 非難する times are yet to be 確認するd.?
But it feels sprightly around town ― 特に the roundabouts. There's plenty of poke when you put your foot 負かす/撃墜する.
Tight turner
One surprise is its turning circle, given 公式に at around 11 metres. That really didn't mean much to me until I tried it for myself 試みる/企てるing a 特に tight U-turn. It was like a London taxi.
The new ID Buzz is 存在 built at VW's factory in Hanover, northern Germany, from where our 王室の Family's forebears あられ/賞賛する.
But there's another British 新たな展開 to the tale. The main VW factory at Wolfsburg was created to build Adolf Hitler's 初めの 'People's Car' ― the 'Volkswagen' for the 集まりs.
By war's end, the Wolfsburg factory was a 爆弾d-out 廃虚.
But a 勇敢な bunch of 占領するing Brits, led by Major Ivan Hirst of the 王室の Electric and Mechanical Engineers, got the factory going again building Beetles as 輸送(する) for the 占領するing 当局.
Forerunner: An 早期に 概念 見解/翻訳/版 of electric iD Buzz which was 明かすd in 2017
To 往復(する) parts around the 工場/植物, they adapt ed the Beetle chassis by putting a flat metal plate on it as an improvised low loader with the driver at the 支援する looking 今後 across his 負担. The Germans called it a 'Plattenwagen'.
When Dutch car importer Ben Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, ーするつもりであるing to 購入(する) Beetles for 輸入する to the Netherlands and later the USA, he spotted one of these Plattenwagen and saw even greater 可能性のある for it.
He sketched a doodle of a 乗り物 ― based on the Plattenwagen ― 時代遅れの April 23, 1947, but placing the driver at the 前線.?
The idea of the VW Microbus was born. When it finally made it into 生産/産物 in 1950, it was called the 'Type 2', the Type 1 存在 the 初めの VW Beetle.
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