Volkswagen Unveils 'ID Buzz' Electric Microbus Concept (ibtimes.co.uk)

New submitter drunkdrone quotes a report from International Business Times: Given the emissions scandal that rocked Volkswagen in 2015, we reckon Scooby Doo and the gang would opt for something a little more environmentally-sound were they to be reinvented for the 21st Century. VW's new ID Buzz electric concept car, unveiled at the International Auto Show in Detroit on 8 January, is exactly the sort of thing we can imagine the overbearing talking dog and four meddlesome kids driving around in today. The ID Buzz is the second electric concept vehicle to come from Volkswagen in recent months, following the VW I.D. concept car unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September 2016. The ID Buzz is a re-imagining of sorts of the German automaker's classic VW Microbus, with 'Buzz' being a phonetic play on 'bus' and, according to VW, "refers to the silent buzzing of the drive system." The all-electric van boasts a driving range of up to 270 miles, which VW says is comparable to traditional petrol-powered vehicles, and features a "fully-autonomous" mode that allows the driver's seat to swing round 180 degrees for a more social seating arrangement. Additional cutting-edge features include a heads-up display that projects navigational information as augmented reality images, which can appear as directional cues as much as 49 feet ahead of the car. This provides a more visual system that marks directions on the road itself, rather than having to rely on a 2D image as in the case with traditional sat-navs. VW calls the effect "astonishingly realistic."

Comments

Silent Buzzing?

[R3d M3rcury]

"refers to the silent buzzing of the drive system."

If it's buzzing, then it isn't silent.

Re:Silent Buzzing?

[SeaFox]

If it's buzzing, then it isn't silent.

True, but I think their point it it wont bee that noisy.

Insert Standard Slashdot Responses

[CohibaVancouver]

- Insert obligatory Slashdot 'electric vehicle' responses here -

[Response 1: My commute is 300 miles! As a result this electric vehicle is useless for everyone!]

[Response 2: Some electricity is coal-generated! As a result, in all jurisdictions, this car is more polluting than a 1973 VW Microbus!]

Re:Insert Standard Slashdot Responses

[Solandri]

[Response 2: Some electricity is coal-generated! As a result, in all jurisdictions, this car is more polluting than a 1973 VW Microbus!]

It's actually worse than this. You can't look at electricity consumption overall. You have to look at the marginal increase in electricity production in response to adding a marginal increase in consumption (the EV). In nearly all locations, this added increase in consumption is met by electricity generated from burning coal or natural gas. So EVs are actually almost entirely fossil fuel powered.

The only way an EV can be powered by renewables is if you added the renewable power generation specifically because of the increased demand due to EVs. That is, if the EVs hadn't increased demand, you wouldn't have built those renewable plants. Since that's almost never true* (those renewable plants would've been built anyway to replace fossil fuel plants), EVs are powered almost entirely by existing plants which increase their output in response to the increase in demand - coal and natural gas plants.

If you don't believe that verbal logic, here's the math. Say a city generates 100 MWh from coal/gas and 100 MWh from renewables every month, for 200 MWh combined. Consumption is also 200 MWh. Now say you buy an EV which uses 300 kWh each month. Demand is now 200.3 MWh. The city has to increase generation to 200.3 MWh to match demand. It can't increase generation from renewables since those are fixed amounts based on how much the sun shines, the wind blows, and rain falls. So it increases generation by burning more coal and gas. So all of the 300 kWh the EV uses is generated from fossil fuels.

"But my home has solar panels!" Ok, so the city generates 199.7 MWh, your solar panels generate 0.3 MWh. Total consumption of the city is 200 MWh. You buy the EV which which consumes 0.3 MWh. Consumption is now 200.3 MWh, and the city has to burn a little more coal or gas to generate 200.3 MWh. And your EV is powered by fossil fuels again.

* The lone exception I've seen is Tesla buying SolarCity, to encourage buyers of Tesla vehicles to also get rooftop solar panels installed. In that case, the PV panels would not have been installed if the Tesla wasn't bought, so those Telsas are in fact being (partially) powered by solar.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you doing on a news for nerds site? A microbus is a microbus is a microbus within the bounds of each technology. When a microbus technology comes through an revolutionises driving and transportation people care.

I won't buy another microbus till my current one dies, but I care to see progress rather than the world settling for the "it's just an idiot microbus" attitude. Interestingly you cared enough about it to post. Thanks for showing an interest in the story.

Not my style ...

[PPH]

... of van.

Now if they can come up with a modern version of a Chevy panel van. With porthole windows, cheesy mural, orange shag carpeting and a bumper sticker, "If this van's rocking, don't come knocking" they will have addressed my demographic.

Re:Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

DogDudeIsCool has five posts so far today. They all read nearly the same. Don't get too worked up over someone's comments. Literally...

Re:omg

[HornWumpus]

Fiat Multipla

The Italians have made some nice looking cars. They also made the ugliest car ever. They have yet to make a reliable car.