Volkswagen ID Buzz GTX review — the ultimate parentmobile?

Times

23-07-2025

The Volkswagen ID Buzz isn't an obvious choice for the GTX treatment. VW now has sporty versions of its electric ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.7 models, but they're all cars. The ID Buzz, meanwhile, might be based on the same car-focused underpinnings, but let's be real here … it's the spiritual successor to the Type 2 van — a model associated with flower power, hair shirts and the romance of having to get out and push on a steep coastal road. The ID Buzz GTX doesn't so much do away with that image as blow it out of the sky with a Flakpanzer.
What VW has done is take the standard rear-wheel-drive ID Buzz and bolt an extra electric motor to the front wheels, boosting power from 282bhp to 335bhp. Then it updated the looks with high-gloss black external trim, Solna 20in alloy wheels, LED matrix headlights and a new cherry red paint colour.
Interestingly the suspension hasn't been touched, though, so while there may be a little extra weight at the front and pull from the front wheels, the way the Buzz GTX rides over bumps and goes around corners is very similar to the base models. Which is to say, decent if you're expecting it to be like a van but not as sharp and refined as a low-riding family estate.
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Yes it's tall, but the battery pack is in a flat pack under the floor, which means the centre of gravity is low down so the Buzz feels nicely planted on the road. Particularly as it's a very hefty beast — just under three tonnes unladen. But somehow it feels relatively agile and it shakes off potholes and road humps with Taylor Swift-like ease.
The problem is that, as the driver and front passenger sit so far forward in the vehicle — almost over the front wheels — they will feel all those bumps and dips much more than those lording it up in the rear. It's a weird and not always pleasant experience and I reckon it's better in the cheaper model with smaller alloys and deeper tyre sidewalls.
As with the single-motor ID Buzz, you can get the GTX in short-wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) form with five or six seats (replacing the second row bench seat with two captain's chairs) or a long-wheelbase version with seven seats. Which means if you want the extra performance — and the GTX is definitely nippy, with 0-62mph times of 6.1 and 6.4 seconds respectively — there's no compromise on style and practicality.
Importantly, the longer versions of the ID Buzz, whether GTX or not, get a larger battery with a capacity of 86kWh (up from 79kWh). That means it carries some extra weight, on top of the additional metalwork in the body, and having the front and rear wheels pushed further apart further differentiates the way the long and short versions feel to drive. For me, the shorter model has the more engaging handling, so be sure you definitely need the extra capaciousness of the long-wheelbase model before committing to it.
Whichever model you go for, practicality is where the ID Buzz absolutely excels: there is so much space for all occupants in the cavernous interior where cubbyholes abound, especially in our seven-seat test car. This made it the ideal car for a family camping trip, and we were able to load up all of our gear, including an eight-man tent, multi-hob stove, chairs, table, gazebo, inflatable furniture, sleeping gear and more. It's the first camping trip we've been on where we haven't had to worry about what to take and what to leave behind — we threw everything in, and the Buzz swallowed it all up.
To create even more space, I removed one of the seats from the third row, which is astonishingly easy to do. I didn't even have to consult the owner's manual or one of those 'dullfluencers' you get on YouTube. What's more, a bar on the seat allows it to be carried, though of course it's heavy and cumbersome and therefore a job for one strong person or two less brawny types. It's even simpler to get the seat back in, sliding from the rear and dropping down and into place with a click. It's almost as if the system was designed by someone with a brain.
Making life even easier is that the ID Buzz GTX has powered sliding rear doors on both sides, and the large top-hinged powered tailgate means you can load and unload without getting soaked if it's raining at the campsite. VW also fitted a bike rack to the optional towbar for us, so my children were able to cycle around once we got to the campsite.
I think the kids, aged eleven and nine, were more blown away by this car than I was, in reality. They've been in the five-seat model in Style trim before, and so were already pleased to be see the Buzz again, but the arrival of the seven-seat GTX resulted in fits of wild excitement. So extreme was their ebullience that they wanted to spend the night in it while it was parked outside our house.
I can sort of see why. I was also excited by a Toyota Space Cruiser my dad brought home one day when I was a nipper. Something about the acres of space and rear glass sunroof, possibly. In the GTX it's a fixed glass roof but panoramic, and changes from opaque to clear at the touch of a button.
But my little ones also loved the sliding electric rear windows, and the fact that they had fast USB-C charging ports in the doors and their own digital temperature controls. It might well have been the coolest thing they had ever seen; they were less excited when I surprised them with a trip to Legoland. Though, on reflection, that might have something to do with the reality of Legoland.
It's a decent interior up front, too, with easy Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity and a much improved operating system over the first efforts in VW ID models. Details like the Play/Pause symbols on the accelerator and brake pedals will never not be cool, and the GTX gets the stonking Harman Kardon sound system as standard.
It's not perfect by any means, and the haptic buttons on the steering wheel are a real frustration as it's way too easy to brush them with your palm and change a radio station. And why VW thought it'd be a good idea to have the washer fluid button on the end of the indicator stalk I have no idea. But otherwise the layout is good, the visibility all round lends it the visibility of a greenhouse, and it's very easy to get comfortable for long stints at the wheel.
And here we come to the crunch point: how far the ID Buzz GTX goes on a charge. The shorter model, with the 79kWh battery, has an official range of 262 miles, while the seven-seater I tested, with its extended wheelbase and larger battery, is quoted at 280 miles. Not figures that will impress the EV-agnostics, and as ever those lab test efficiency figures are just the stuff of dreams; in the real world on long motorway runs you're more likely to need to stop every couple of hundred miles. Even more frequently if you're towing the maximum 1,600kg possible with the GTX LWB.
I have to report that my charging experience was a doddle, though. I managed to plug in at a supermarket near the campsite in the New Forest and go from 50 to 100 per cent charge during the 33 minutes I was inside the shop, thanks to charging at up to 200kW. VW quotes a figure of 10-80 per cent in 30 minutes, or 26 minutes for the shorter GTX. But while that was stress free, as usual the cost of using public rapid chargers caused my pulse to race… at 72p per kWh for the chargers at that Sainsbury's, half-filling the battery set me back £28. Charge at home and you'll pay somewhere around a tenth as much, on average. Maybe much less at night.
And speaking of prices, as you've probably guessed the ID Buzz GTX itself doesn't come cheap. The seven-seat version costs upwards of £68,045, which is eight and a half grand more than the regular seven-seater, and the shorter GTX will set you back £67,535. I'm sure many of you reckon that's a significant amount of money to pay, and I can't argue except to say that there aren't many new cars that can do 0-62mph in about six seconds and carry seven people plus luggage.
What's more, if you can afford a new one, you will find that the ID Buzz GTX is the sort of car that is impossible to drive without raising a smile. Its retro-modern looks absolutely hit the spot while the versatility and its easy-to-drive nature definitely fit the Type 2 ethos, though with a good dose of spice. More important, though, if you want to score maximum dad or mum points then this is the family bus to get.