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Car and Driver
a day ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Volkswagen Promises Not to Raise Prices Through At Least June
Volkswagen says it won't raise prices on its new cars from now through June. VW says the pricing freeze applies to the company's entire lineup, from the sub-$30K Taos to the $62K-plus For now, Volkswagen is prepared to eat the cost of the current 25 percent tariffs on vehicles imported into the United States. Volkswagen has an important announcement to make: It's not raising new-car prices! At least not until after the month of June. The move comes as most consumers wait with bated breath to find out how much the tariffs implemented by the Trump administration will cause the cost of buying a new car, truck, or SUV to climb. Volkswagen Andi Hedrick | Car and Driver VW says that even though it's spending more money to import certain models, it's willing to eat those costs for the time being. That means it's freezing the MSRP for all of its models, from the entry-level Taos SUV and Jetta sedan to the three-row Atlas SUV and the Microbus-inspired EV. The latter is the brand's most expensive model, with prices that range from about $62K to over $72K. View Exterior Photos Volkswagen Volkswagen also just introduced refreshed versions of the sporty Golf GTI and Golf R, which start at $33,670 and $48,325, respectively. Like the rest of the lineup, their prices are also set in stone through at least June. Eric Stafford Managing Editor, News Eric Stafford's automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual '97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a '90 Honda CRX Si. Read full bio
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Irish Times
The VW Buzz is a superhero, here to save us from villainous SUVs
Volkswagen Year : 2025 Fuel : Electric Verdict : Funky styling on the outside, unmatched space on the inside, and a decent range makes the Buzz the best electric seven-seater by far. I've had a bowdlerised version of the original 1966 Batman theme song rattling through my head all week. However, instead of the exultant 'Batman!' at the end of the 'Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na' prefix, I've been calling out 'BatBuzz!' instead. Childish but I can't help myself. The all-over 'Deep Black Pearlescent' paintwork of this long-wheelbase, seven-seat Volkswagen ID. Buzz test car, a model more normally seen and photographed in bright, often two-tone pastels, just makes it look very Bruce Wayne spec. The effect is to make the big VW MPV appear a bit sterner and more serious-minded. VW seven-seater It also helps to, somewhat, disguise the extra size of this long-wheelbase model. Ever since the first generation of arrived in 2022, its five-seat-only layout has been a slight disappointment. Surely if Dacia can squeeze seven seats into a compact Jogger , then VW could do the same with the tall and roomy Buzz? Well, yes it can, it just wanted to add a bit of extra length first. In fact, VW has added an extra 250mm overall to the length of the Buzz to create this long-wheelbase version, all of which is inserted into the wheelbase, stretching the gap between the wheel centres front-to-rear to 3.2m. The Buzz has managed to stay, just, within five metres of overall length, which means it just about fits into a standard parking bay. It's also about the same overall length as VW's lower-slung ID.7 Tourer estate, so while the Buzz looks huge, that's more to do with its height than its length. READ MORE VW seven-seater Then again, that height and length really pay off. You see, most seven-seat cars on the market these days are SUVs, which are wasteful. I don't just mean of fuel and emissions (although, heaven knows, those too) but of space. SUVs are big, tall and long and yet they sacrifice much of that cubic space to long bonnets and lofty ride heights, which means their interiors are often much less spacious and practical than they at first appear. The Buzz, by contrast, is a true, proper MPV, sharing its cavernous body with a commercial van, and therefore turning over almost all of that height, and virtually all of that length, to passenger space. VW seven-seater VW seven-seater VW seven-seater Sit up front in the Buzz, and aside from the – broadly impressive, although more proper buttons would be welcome – 12.9-inch touchscreen, little enough has changed. You have the same comfy, lofty seating position (you can eyeball Land Rover Defender drivers), the same Vista-Vision widescreen view out the front, which just makes you realise how hard it is to see out of so many other big cars. Hop in the back, though – through the never-not-fun electric sliding side doors – and there is a big change. Legroom was never an issue in the five-seat Buzz, but here in the seven-seater, there's simply masses of space. Even in fairly roomy cars, I can usually at least brush my knees off the back of the front seat, but not here. I can almost stretch my legs out straight, when the adjustable rear bench has been slid to its furthest-aft position. Better still, the entirely flat floor and the broad middle seat means that there's actually room, and comfort, for three full-grown adults here. Usually, pushing a set of adjustable middle-row seats all the way back means that anyone in the third row has to have a knee-ectomy, or at least cram their legs up into their armpits. Not so in the Buzz – row three is not only easy to access (the big sliding side doors and the tilt-and-slide middle row make getting in and out much easier than in rival SUV models) but there's still ample legroom and headroom in there, even if you're built like me. I'm officially classified as 'husky'. VW seven-seater Behind, with all seven seats in use, there's a mere 306 litres of boot space left over, but flip row three down flat, and you have an enormous 1,300 litres to play with. For high-spec models such as this Style version, there's also a raised section of boot floor to give you a flat-load space across the backs of those seats. The raised section has a lid, allowing you to easily stash charging cables and so on underneath, and you can remove it to get a lower boot floor, but that involves screwdrivers and spanners, so it's probably best left alone. Two issues will give you loadspace pause, though. One: there's nowhere to store the retracting luggage cover if the back seats are in use or if you want to load up to the roof. Two: the top-hinged tailgate is so big that you need to leave considerable room behind you when parking so as to be able to open it. Side-hinged barn doors would be better. A longer Buzz means a bigger battery, so this version gets an 86kWh unit, compared with the 77kWh of the standard five-seat Buzz. That makes for an improved range, rising from about 420km for the five-seat version to up to circa 470km here. In the real world, the difference is quite significant. In previous test drives of the five-seat Buzz, range generally works out to a realistic 350km or so. Here in the seven-seater, range is more like 430km in real-world conditions, which is much more useful, and we easily matched VW's claimed 21kWh/100km energy consumption figure. Put it this way: in one day I drove from Dublin to Wexford and then on to Belfast, using mostly motorways, with only one quick 25-minute stop for a recharge, arriving home with 35 per cent remaining charge in the battery. That's more than decent, and with charging now possible at up to 200kW from a high-powered DC charger, that turns the Buzz into a viable long-haul machine. Which is its perfect role. The suspension, generally good at ironing out the worst tarmac, does tend to occasionally heave and jerk on rough urban streets as it attempts to keep the Buzz's 2.6-tonne weight under control. On bigger roads it's much better, although motorways are not the Buzz's natural environment. Much better to take windier main roads, stick to about 80-100km/h and enjoy both the surprisingly direct steering, and that glorious view of the countryside. It's an expensive thing, the seven-seat Buzz – our test car clocked in at €75,350, but that does need contextualising. First off, that's in line with all-electric seven-seat rivals such as the Kia EV9, yet the Buzz has more space. It has as much usable space as, say, a Mercedes EQV, but is – wait for it – €50,000 cheaper, and has better range on one charge. Batman might be good at rescuing the citizens of Gotham City, but the seven-seat Buzz is here to save us from SUVs. Lowdown: Volkswagen Style Seven Seat Power 210kW e-motor developing 286hp and 550Nm of torque, powering the rear wheels via a single-speed automatic transmission. CO2 emissions (annual motor tax) 0g/km (€120). Electric consumption 19.5-21.0 kWh/100km (WLTP). Electric range 453-487km (WLTP) 0-100km/h 7.9 sec. Price €75,350 as tested, starts from €67,785.
Reuters
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Uber bets on affordability with shared fixed-route rides, expanded passes
May 14 (Reuters) - Uber Technologies (UBER.N), opens new tab on Wednesday unveiled a range of new offerings such as shared fixed-route rides and expanded membership passes, targeting consumers seeking cost-effective ways to travel. The ride-sharing app has been looking to invest in more affordable transport and delivery offerings to widen its user base and combat slowing revenue growth in an uncertain economic environment. Uber's new "Route Share" ride option will cost half as much as the company's UberX ride-hail service, by providing pickups every 20 minutes along busy commute corridors. Initially available in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago, Route Share will operate during weekday rush hours and Uber is considering partnering with employers to integrate pre-tax commuter benefits. The company is also expanding ride passes that help users lock-in lower fares and keep costs predictable. These ride passes will be available in major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco, and will be expanded to teen accounts later this year. Uber unveiled Price Lock Pass for $2.99 in February and it was initially available in a few U.S. markets. The feature will now be available across several cities in the United States and expand throughout the country and Brazil this year, the company said. The company had announced a partnership with Volkswagen ( opens new tab to deploy a fleet of thousands of the German automaker's fully electric ID. Buzz AD vehicles as robotaxis next year. The vehicles will also be used for shared self-driving taxi rides. Uber is also scaling its tie-up with Waymo in Austin, aiming to increase the number of robotaxis to hundreds of vehicles in the coming months.
CNET
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNET
Uber and Volkswagen Will Soon Let You Hop in a Shared Self-Driving Ride
Table of Contents Uber and Volkswagen Will Soon Let You Hop in a Shared Self-Driving Ride Hot on the heels of their partnership announcement, Uber and Volkswagen will soon be launching shared autonomous rides, the companies said Wednesday. The initiative is slated to kick off in Los Angeles in 2026. Riders will be able to hail a fully electric, self-driving ride aboard the ID Buzz AD minivan. In April, the companies said they'll be deploying thousands of the minivans in "multiple" US cities over the next decade. Testing is slated to begin later this year, before the commercial launch in LA in 2026. Human operators will be on board the vehicles in the initial phase to ensure everything's running smoothly. "Autonomous technology will drive a safer and more affordable future for everyone, and we can't wait to expand access to it around the world," Uber said in a release. Currently, passengers in certain cities can summon autonomous vehicles through platforms like Uber and Waymo, but those rides aren't shared. Alphabet-owned Waymo operates fully autonomous rides for the general public in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, with a launch slated for Atlanta later this year. Depending on the city, you can either hail a Waymo through the company's Waymo One app or via the Uber app. Uber has teamed up with more than a dozen other autonomous vehicle companies, including May Mobility and Nuro. Shared rides could also address concerns about self-driving cars adding to traffic congestion. Critics have pointed to the "empty miles" that come with autonomous vehicles roaming around between pickups. If multiple people hop in the same car, it's more likely that there'll be someone on board. Shared autonomous rides are also a way for passengers to save money. In my experience, the cost of a Waymo in San Francisco is often slightly higher than a human-driven ride through Uber and Lyft. In cities where Uber offers rides aboard Waymo's self-driving vehicles, it says the price is comparable to a standard, non-AV ride. Shared autonomous rides take things a step further by giving you a discount -- with the cost being shared space with strangers.
The Drive
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz Cargo Review: How Practical Is It Really?
The latest car news, reviews, and features. The 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz is an electric vehicle, a bit of a vanity product, and as of this writing, still something of a novelty on American roads. But it is also a van. There's a lot of wind noise. It rides pretty stiff. And it's quite spacious, even for six or seven passengers. We took some time to load all kinds of random junk into one to help you get a sense of what the ID Buzz can comfortably carry. To learn more about the van's driving dynamics and interface, check out our first drive impressions. Then, we packed six dogs into the thing to get their impressions. Not a dog, but my bud Jerry Perez will have a deeper, week-long test drive review here on The Drive soon, too. One more thing: We did this test before the stop-sale was put in place after regulators determined the ID Buzz's rear seat to be too wide for two people. So the third row you're seeing in our pictures might not be what you can get at a Volkswagen store. Meanwhile, let's talk cargo. We got a group of bulky objects to load in as examples. Andrew P. Collins American-spec ID Buzz vans have three rows of seating. Even with all the seats up, the Buzz has room for at least four decent-sized duffle bags. Behind the third row, there's a spring-loaded shelf above soft storage boxes that you can pull out like drawers. They're like the kind of things you'd buy at Target for your kid's college dorm room; not particularly elegant but simple and useful. The ski boots should give you a good sense of how big those boxes are—one pair fits perfectly. Andrew P. Collins The quickest and easiest way to convert the Buzz from passenger to cargo mode is to simply slap the seatbacks down. This gives you a very deep and reasonably tall void of space without the inconvenience of removing anything. The floor is flat … ish. One large piece to lay down on top of the seatbacks would be great for camping or loading cargo that needs to slide or drag into the van. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like such a part exists yet. But it'd be easy enough to make with thick birch or something. Removing the rear shelf and third row of seats opens up much more space, most critically affording you a lot more cargo height in the back. It's not difficult to pull those parts, but it's not exactly trivial. The shelf comes out with two big thumb screws—a simple and slightly tedious task. The rear seats are cumbersome and annoying; getting them to fold, and then slide, and then finally un-click is a multi-stage process involving a lot of movement. Once they're free, the seats are not light so you'll want to lift slowly and carefully, with your legs, not your back. (A key mobility tip because I'm convinced anyone who wants, and can afford, an ID Buzz is at least 50 years old.) There are quite a few motions involved in pulling the back seats out. It's mildly annoying, but pretty easy after a few removals. Andrew P. Collins In this cargo configuration, you're ready for basically anything. I'd throw a tarp down before picking up anything gross, but even if you don't bother, there's not much to rip or scratch. The ID Buzz's cavernous interior can easily eat a set of wheels, a full-sized office chair, or a huge haul of rectangular boxes. A big bicycle fits, but carrying bikes inside any car is madness—they're too dirty and weirdly shaped. Still, if you refuse to get a bike rack, scroll through the gallery below to see how well a large full-suspension mountain bike fits. The final phase of a cargo-mode conversion would be to remove the second-row seat bench. It's definitely possible—the bolts holding the seat to the van's body all look pretty easy to access. But it'd still take a breaker bar to bust them loose, and for what it's worth, VW's people told me that these seats are not meant to be removed by customers. Removing and reinstalling the rear shelf is easy, and you can do it by hand. The bolts are quite long, though, so you're stuck spinning them for a while. Andrew P. Collins I declined to mess with them and most owners will probably feel the same way—this feels like a major missed opportunity. Being able to easily remove the second-row captain's chairs for mega cargo hauls, or to take the midship seats out and leave the third row in place for a limousine-like effect, was one of my family's favorite things to do with the last van we owned: a first-gen Honda Odyssey from 1995. These measurements will give you a sense of the ID Buzz's usable interior space. On the left I've sketched how tall and deep the cargo bay is with all the seats folded down, and on the right you get an idea of how big the space is behind the second row when the third row's removed. The cargo area is about 57 inches wide at its widest, though the door is 48. My mom says we can hang these on the fridge. Andrew P. Collins Scroll through this little gallery I made of a few familiar things being stored in the ID Buzz. This might give you a better picture of its real size than simple dimensional measurements. Here's a front bumper in box. Let's add some more long cargo. These skis are almost 190 centimeters Back shelf out, seats down. One seat missing. Full cargo mode. Enough room to relax. These boxes are about 2×3′ Tall enough for a vacuum. This is a standard Home Depot tote. Anotha' one. These are 16-inch wheels from a Honda prelude. Here's a Dometic fridge, a decent-sized 35L one. A Herman-Miller chair fits no problem. Bike doesn't fit elegantly, but it does fit. And this is a large one. And here's how some of these loads look from the side door. No matter what position the seating is in, the ID Buzz has a few useful small storage slots for personal items. The pockets left of the steering wheel and shelf in front of the front passenger are good for quick toss-aside road trip accessories, and the center console has a neat little pop-out trash-can style bucket at both the front and rear. Here's a closer look at the small storage cubbies and cup holders that you have access to in front of the ID Buzz. Andrew P. Collins The cup holders that pop out from under the infotainment system are kind of flimsy and awkward to reach. Storage pockets in the doors have USB chargers, which is always nice. The 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz is definitely commodious. The combination of a low ride height and high ceiling make it easy to load from the back, and the flexibility in cargo management between the seats and the little rear shelf is decent. If you're thinking: 'Will I be able to carry a lot of camp gear, or sleep in this thing, or bring home lumber with it?' you can, for sure. The little shelf behind the third row is clever and well-made. By bisecting the rear cargo area, you get a lot more utility out of an area that's generous vertically but not very deep. I do wish it were easier to take the second row of seats out, that'd make it much easier to utilize the side sliding doors for cargo work. The latest car news, reviews, and features. The rear cargo door is enormous. It makes a great awning if you're tailgating or camping. Less optimally, it might make loading the van in a garage challenging. It might also represent some complications for bike racks. The Buzz's roof is so high that it'd be annoying to put bikes onto it, and the back door opens so wide that you'd probably have to re-rack bicycles even mounted low on one of those hitch-style carriers. Empirically speaking, the rear cargo opening is 43 inches high and 48 inches wide. Finally, where the ID Buzz gave me the most acute frustration loading and unloading things is more a product of its modernness than its dimensions. There's no power button on this stupid thing, so it's always trying to turn itself off as you close doors. The giant rear hatch tried to close on me like a giant clam gobbling up some plankton. I can appreciate that it's trying to think for me, but a simple on/off switch rather than a proximity detector would go a long way to making this thing more grumpy-old-man friendly. It kept fighting me as I tried to move it around my loading area and parking pad. Andrew P. Collins Bottom line: The ID Buzz feels like a middle ground between a modern minivan and an old-school cargo van. I didn't find the ride quality or driving dynamics to be particularly impressive, but its abundance of headroom and straight, simple walls might give it an edge in hauling over, say, a Sienna or Odyssey. If you have a small business that involves transit'ing things a relatively short distance (flower shop, catering, mobile dog grooming) one of these could be great if you can grab a pre-imported one that's not tariffed. Nobody raises an eye to a minivan or cargo van running around town, but in New York's Hudson Valley where I road-tested this thing at least, people went nuts for the ID Buzz. It seemed like almost everybody pointed and smiled at it. Then again, even at the lowest model's list price, you could basically buy two Mercedes-Benz Metris vans which are much nicer to drive but not nearly as cute. Andrew P. Collins Got any good ideas about van hauling or cargo management? Drop the author a line at Pro car critic since 2012. Andrew's also been an off-road tour guide, repo man, and Baja co-driver, among other things. Lifetime car nerd, amateur tinkerer, very slow casual racer.
