VW ID.Buzz and the Cargo van version came to Norway last year. These are cars that really attract attention at the start.
The buzz has its roots back to the legendary Hippie bus. But while the design has a high retro factor, the rest of the car is certainly contemporary. This is an electric car, which shares much of the technical aspects with the other cars in Volkswagen’s ID series.
ID.Buzz is now becoming a relatively common sight on the roads. Now it is also clear that 60 bright orange specimens of the species will be rolled out, with Mesta logos on them.
Already on the road
Mesta has bought 60 van editions of ID.Buzz. No one has gone to purchase more in Norway.
The first copies are already in place. During the spring, a total of 60 cars will go out all over Norway, where Mesta has assignments.
– We aim to think about sustainability in everything we do. One of our most important focus areas is to reduce our emissions, and we are fully engaged in this when we make this major purchase, says CEO of Mesta, Marianne Bergmann Røren.
Perhaps not entirely surprising: Was named Van of the Year
IN PLACE: The first copies arrived in Norway last autumn, interest before the launch was sky high.
Replace the cars
Vans account for 20 percent of the emissions in Mesta. Today, Mesta has around 1,000 vans in its fleet. Not all of them can be replaced by electric versions now, but the share of electric in Mesta is increasing rapidly.
– We will replace large parts of the van fleet and, as far as possible, electric vans will be purchased, confirms Mesta’s chief engineer, Tore Ødegård, in a press release.
He believes that today’s electric vans are in many contexts perfect substitutes for fossil-fuel vehicles. Mesta has had electric vans in use since 2017, but the new vans with a significantly longer range make them more suitable for the tasks Mesta performs along the roads.
This is where ID.Buzz appeared for the first time in Norway
ELECTRIFICATION: Mesta is moving at full speed to electric vans, the first ones were purchased in 2017.
30,000 kilometers annually
– Mesta has set a Norwegian record for the procurement of electric vans of this type, confirms Trond Bergan, commercial vehicle sales representative at Volkswagen.
The cars have a battery of 77 kWt which has a manufacturer-specified range of 418 kilometers (WLTP).
– These vans must travel 30,000 kilometers annually, and for the vast majority of tasks this will be a sufficient range, says Tore Ødegård.
Sky-high interest – VW increased production
THE WORKPLACE: This is what it looks like behind the wheel in ID.Buzz Cargo. The material choices are slightly simpler than in the passenger car version.
4×4 is coming
ID. Buzz Cargo is now delivered with rear-wheel drive, only later this year will it be possible to order it with four-wheel drive.
– We couldn’t wait for four-wheel drive because we wanted to test this out now, but we will buy the four-wheel drive when they are available on the market. And we are continuously looking at other vans that can also deliver according to our requirements, says Ødegård in Mesta.
Here the first cars roll ashore in Norway
Video: And here is the grandfather, the Hippie Bus himself
