Volkswagen has announced that it will produce a camper version of its upcoming retro-inspired electric ID.Buzz van.
The announcement came as Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles confirmed its medium-term future plans for its Hannover plant where, as well as a new Bentley and other VW van models, the ID.Buzz will be produced from next year.
Four in a row
With the ID.Buzz slated initially to appear in passenger and cargo variants from late 2022, the California camper will not be launched until the "second half of the decade". The ID.California would bring to four the number of models in VW's California line-up which currently includes the Caddy California micro-camper, the California 6.1 - a camper version of the company's mid-sized Transporter - and the Grand California, a camper based on VW's large Crafter van.
What we know about the Volkswagen ID.Buzz
While there are no specific details about the ID.California yet, we do know a lot about the model on which it is based. The ID.Buzz, when it launches, will feature styling inspired by the classic VW T2 Transporter of the 1950s and '60s. While the new model won't be quite as outrageously retro as the ID.Buzz concept, it will broadly stick to a similar visual shape and design as well as being available in short- and long-wheelbase versions.
The ID.Buzz will sit on VW's MEB platform and will feature a range of battery sizes from 48kWh to 111kWh, the latter giving the van a range of around 550km. A single-motor model featuring a 204hp unit driving the rear wheels will likely start the line-up with dual-motor all-wheel drive models expected too, all of which, like other MEB vehicles such as the VW ID.3 and ID.4, will support rapid charging.
Any ID.California arriving down the line, however, will certainly need a large battery capacity to cope with the additional weight of the extra fixtures and fittings of a camper.
According to Carsten Intra, chairman of the board of management at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the ID.California "will combine the ongoing trend towards mobile leisure arrangements with sustainable CO2-neutral mobility."
In the meantime, production in Hannover will consist of the new T7 Multivan, which replaces the T6 Caravelle, as well as run-out T6 Transporter models which will likely be replaced in the next year or so.