58 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 28 AUGUST 2019
olkswagen is
progressing ever faster
towards an electric
future with its new
I D s ub -br a nd. It h a s
invested around £40 billion in its
electrification programme, looking
f i r m l y t o t he f ut u r e of mot or i n g. But
the latest in a series of ID concept cars
harks back to a far simpler machine.
The ID Buggy is a back-to-basics
of f-r oa d t w o -s e at e r i n s pi r e d b y t he
classic Meyers Manx Dune Buggy.
Like its forebear, the Buggy does
without doors and a fixed roof and
it features minimal controls. But
whereas the Meyers Manx machine
was built on a VW Beetle chassis,
the ID Buggy uses VW’s new MEB
electric car platform – the same one
t h at w i l l u nde r pi n t he for t hc om i n g
ID 3 hatchback.
The aim is to inject some fun
into the ID family and to showcase
the modularity and possibilities of
the MEB chassis. But it’s more than
just for show.
V W i n si s t s it i s s e r iou s a b out t he
Buggy going into production as a
lo w-v olu me a dd it ion t o t he I D r a n ge
and is seeking out partners capable of
handling small-scale production. The
aim is to licence the MEB chassis to
companies interested in building
the Buggy, much as firms such asMeyers Manx built Beetle-based
bu gg ie s i n t he 196 0 s. T h at c ou ld
include the German company e.Go,
which has already agreed a licence
to use the MEB chassis.
That’s for the future. Right now,
only one ID Buggy exists – and
t he go o d ne w s i s t h at it ’s d r i v a ble ,
albeit only at low speeds. It attracts
ple nt y of at t e nt ion a s w e c r u i s e
down 17 Mile Drive near Monterey
in California. Everywhere we go,
crowds jostle to snap a photo of it.
We even get a thumbs-up from the
excited driver of a Lamborghini
Aventador.
The ID Buggy successfully updates
the look of the original buggy with
a friendly face featuring a low-set
bumper and round lights. As with the
original, the unadorned plastic body
appears to f loat above the chassis.
The reinforced windscreen is free-
standing, with roll-over protection
provided by a sturdy structure
behind the cabin. Protection fromthe elements comes in the guise of
a clip-in composite fabric roof.
T he 18i n w he e l s c ome sho d w it h
BF Goodrich All Terrain tyres
(255/55 profile at the front, 285/60 at
the rear). Because of their generous
side w a l l pr of i le , t he y he lp t o i nc r e a s e
the ground clearance of the Buggy by
6 0 m m ov e r t he I D 3.
Power comes from a rear-mounted
electric motor developing 201bhp
and 228lb ft of torque. It provides
drive exclusively to the rear wheels,
with an electronic differential
providing a torque-vectoring effect
for optimal traction. VW quotes a
0 - 62 mph t i me of 7. 2 s e c a nd a t op
s p e e d of 99 mph. E ne r g y i s pr ov ide d
by a 62kWh battery, giving it a
claimed range of 155 miles.
W it h a c h a r g i n g c ap a c it y of 10 0kW,
the battery can be charged from
empty to 80% within 30 minutes,
according to VW.
T he r e a r- d r i v e l ay out e c ho e s t h at
of the original buggy, but VW saysthat, as with other ID models, a
second electric motor could be fixed
to the front axle to provide it with
four-wheel drive.
Our time driving the ID Buggy
was limited to a brief run on public
roads, meaning we were unable
to experience the concept’s sand-
blasting ability. But, even limited to
V
VW’s ID Buggy slingshots the essence of the 1960s dune buggy into the
electric-powered 21st century and likely production. Greg Kable drives it