Why the 2025 VW ID.Buzz Electric Bus Won Two Prestigious Awards

Volkswagen’s new take on the iconic microbus, the 2025 ID.Buzz, has earned it one of the most prestigious honors in the automotive world: The 2025 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™. The ID.Buzz occupies unique status as the only electric bus on the market. Still, recognition by a jury of 50 noted automotive journalists signals its importance in the nation’s increasing acceptance of electric vehicles. 

The ID.Buzz was named the 2025 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year™ at the recent Detroit Auto Show.

Kjell Gruner, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said, “We are pleased that the experts on the jury appreciated its combination of style, space, and refinement, all packaged in a vehicle that has zero tailpipe emissions. And it does this while bringing a smile to anyone who sees one on the street.” 

That echoed comments made by the journalist-jurors, including John Davis, Host/Creator MotorWeek, who said, “No vehicle in the last ten years has captured the imagination, while also bringing the past into the future, better than the Volkswagen ID. Buzz. It is an inspired Volkswagen design for the ages… again.”

But smiles and joy are only part of being a winner. The jurors evaluated new or completely redesigned vehicles based on automotive innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, user experience, and value. The 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz won over two other semi-finalists: the Chevrolet Equinox EV and the Hyundai Santa Fe. 

The 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz also won Green Car Reports “Best Car to Buy 2025,” which cited its standing as the “first electric passenger van.” The editors enthused that “It’s a smile-maker and nostalgia machine” and “quiet, pleasant-riding and reasonably nimble for a van,” which “serves up just the right amount of retro-fun on the outside…and inside it’s thoroughly modern.”

The ID.Buzz Pro rear-wheel drive model offers 282 horsepower and an EPA-estimated range of 234 miles on a charge, while the 4Motion® all-wheel-drive version offers 335 horsepower and EPA-estimated range of 231 miles. It can charge from 10-80% in as little as 26 minutes. A 12.9-inch infotainment screen is standard, as well as 30-color ambient lighting, IQ.DRIVE® Level 2-ready driver assistance technology and power sliding doors and tailgate. It can seat seven or six with captain’s chairs in the second row. 

It’s rare that one vehicle can hark back to historic roots while being thoroughly modern and technologically advanced, but the 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz does just that. The client advisors at Volkswagen of Fairfield would love to show you what makes it an award-winner.