Volkswagen Hippie-Bus Goes All-Electric

One of the original icons of flower power is getting a makeover, ditching fossil fuels for electricity (cue joke about Kool-Aid and some sort of test).

The Volkswagen I.D. Buzz includes a 369-horsepower, all-wheel electric drive with a 270-mile range. And its 111 kWh battery can be charged to 80% in a mere 30 minutes using an inductive charging interface known as the “Combined Charging System” (at a charge rate of 150 kW).

But the electric hippiemobile’s claim-to-fame is a fully-autonomous drive mode (“I.D. Pilot”).

According to VW HQ, the I.D. Buzz is “the world’s first fully autonomous multi-purpose vehicle. A slight push on the steering wheel makes it retract and merge into the instrument panel, switching the I.D. BUZZ from manual control to the fully autonomous “I.D. Pilot” mode that could make it into production by 2025.”

I.D. Pilot mode allows the driver’s seat to be turned 180 degrees to face the rear, while the steering wheel is touch-sensitive and the “cockpit” includes an augmented reality heads-up display. (This is a concept vehicle, mind you.)

It even captures the aesthetics of the Beatnik generation, with ambient lighting that switches from white light (“Drive”) to mood lighting when in I.D. Pilot mode.

Onboard laser scanners, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, side area view cameras, and a front camera help the I.D. Buzz communicate with other vehicles, while traffic data is continuously parsed from the Cloud.

The I.D. Buzz also stores personal preferences, including “personal seat and air conditioning settings, favorite radio stations and songs, sound system settings, exterior sound, configuration of the navigation system, type of ambient lighting and contact information.”

And the authorized user’s smartphone contains the Digital Key, which activates all functions, including simple tasks like opening doors.

The I.D. Buzz won’t be ready until at least 2020, but I’m very excited for this groovy take on a classic piece of Americana.