The adorable VW ID Buzz electric van will debut in March

Enlarge / A VW ID Buzz prototype equipped with Argo AI's autonomous driving hardware and software, on the streets of Munich, Germany. (credit: Argo AI)

This week, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess set a date for the launch of what might be the most eagerly anticipated of VW's new battery electric vehicles. The retro-styled ID Buzz concept car blew so many socks off when we first saw it in 2017, and we'll get our first proper look at the production version on March 9, according to Diess' Twitter feed.

The legend returns on 03/09/22! pic.twitter.com/Q4hFyCN5mr

- Herbert Diess (@Herbert_Diess) January 6, 2022

Intentionally or not, Volkswagen's ID Buzz concept might be the most successful aspect of the company's post-Dieselgate charm offensive. VW has had to pivot hard into electrification, applying its proven strategy of building many different styles of vehicles from the same family of parts and designs.

Most of those vehicles have been pretty conventional, like the ID.3 hatchbacks that are starting to get thick on the ground in Europe or the designed-with-the-US-in-mind ID.4 crossover. Then there are the less conventional concepts-try as they might, the engineers couldn't make a business case for the ID Buggy.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments