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It can take up to five years from when a designer’s brush gives the first traces of a model on paper until the car reaches the factory production process. In the middle of the process, extreme tests are also carried out in all weather conditions: on hot and dusty tracks, also on ice and snow. To realize everything that happens before we can see a vehicle at the dealership, a documentary explains the development work of the ID. Buzz and the ID. Buzz Cargo.
The process required cross-brand cooperation and task sharing: designers and engineers searched for the best possible concept that would combine all the requirements of the specifications.
Bulli’s seven years of experience has been incorporated into the ID. Buzz, a vehicle designed to captivate both the current community of fans and new customers. And, at the same time, be as efficient as possible: the low-friction components of the Modular Electric Drive Platform (MEB) contribute to this, as do the aerodynamics of the bodywork, undercarriage and wheels. After painstaking work, the result is extraordinary: with a drag coefficient of just 0.285 (cd), the ID. Buzz boasts better aerodynamics than any other Bulli.
With the first prototypes built by hand, it can be decided whether all the design data and virtual simulations can be translated into the real world. Quality assurance lies in testing. To ensure that the newly submitted ID. Buzz also meets Volkswagen’s most stringent quality requirements, the electric Bulli was put through a complex and demanding marathon across Europe in extreme conditions. First through extremely hot terrain, passing from very arid climates to tropical and humid regions. Then, through extremely cold terrain, going from dry to wet roads. And in many of these places the road was not paved. Subsequently, tests were carried out on the track simulating rain, snow, ice and dusty environments to check that nothing was introduced into the bodywork and underbody of the vehicle that could cause problems later on.
Both equipped with multi-link rear suspension to separate transverse and longitudinal forces, the ID. Buzz and the ID. Buzz Cargo demonstrated their ability to drive on snow and ice in the far north of Scandinavia. Other aspects examined during the tests carried out at low temperatures were the design of the materials, the electrical and electronic functions, the configuration of the chassis, the acceleration of the vehicle, the braking and steering with low coefficients of friction, in addition to the management heat of the entire vehicle.
The tests are carried out in great detail: in the cold chamber, for example, it is checked how quickly, after the vehicle has been started, the exterior mirror defogs thanks to the mirror heating. To pass the test, the rear-view mirror, preconditioned to 20 degrees below zero, must provide a clear view to the rear just three minutes later.
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