VW Commercial Vehicles Ramps Up Pre-Series Production of the Autonomous ID. Buzz AD
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) and its subsidiary Moia have been developing an autonomous version of the electric ID. Buzz van intended for use as a robotaxi or roboshuttle for several years. In June 2025, the company announced that the ID. Buzz AD – with ‘AD’ standing for Autonomous Driving – had reached readiness for series production.The vehicle will first be deployed in the ALIKE project in Hamburg and with ride-hailing provider Uber in Los Angeles, where Uber also plans to deploy thousands of these vehicles in additional US cities. Additionally, BVG in Berlin is already testing several near-series prototypes of the model.Volkswagen is planning large-scale production of the ID. Buzz AD and aims to enable high manufacturing volumes in the near future. With the ramp-up of pre-series production, the industrialisation phase for the autonomous electric van has now begun. According to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, this marks the first time in Europe that a roboshuttle equipped with technology from Israeli partner Mobileye is being produced at scale.Over the course of the year, pre-series production at the VW plant in Hanover is set to increase to around 500 vehicles. The self-driving vehicles initially go through the same production stages as all non-autonomous ID. Buzz models. However, an additional production loop is planned for the autonomous models, during which specific components such as the combined roof module with cameras, radar, and lidar units, as well as the high-performance computer on the passenger side, are installed.At the end of this production loop, the sensors are calibrated, and the vehicle is commissioned. Regular series production is scheduled to begin in 2027, enabling VWCV to manufacture large volumes of fully autonomous vehicles for the global market as needed.VW subsidiary Moia offers the ID. Buzz AD as a ‘turnkey solution’: The comprehensive package includes the vehicles, autonomous driving systems, software-based fleet management, and operator services for autonomous mobility services in urban areas.The ID. Buzz AD operates at SAE Level 4, meaning it can drive fully autonomously within defined operational domains. It can be used as a shuttle vehicle, in scheduled services, as a robotaxi for individual passengers, or—as planned in the ALIKE project in Hamburg—for ride-pooling. In this model, bookings made via app by different passengers travelling in the same direction are pooled, allowing them to share the vehicle—essentially a driverless, app-based shared taxi service 2.0.Source: Press release via e-mail, linkedin.com
