A fleet of converted T2 vans was created in the 1970s to explore alternative energy sources. The battery alone weighed almost 2,000 pounds.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is the German carmaker’s first mass-produced all-electric minivan, and it’s a pretty cool, modern nod to VW’s first-ever van–the iconic Type 2 Microbus, also known as the T1. It’s boxy, it’s cute, and it has none of the nasty emissions that you can almost smell just by thinking about a post-war vehicle. But what if I told you that the ID.
The first Elektro Bus was of the single-cab pickup variety simply because it had enough room for the huge, 1,874-pound lead-acid battery pack and rear DC motor under the loading area. That electric motor was initially built by Bosch and later by Siemens and had a continuous output of 16 kilowatts , but a maximum output of 32 kW could be dispensed for short bursts.