Continental tyres and technology for the new VW I.D Buzz

The Volkswagen ID.Buzz is the must-have car of the moment. Its looks recall the classic VW campervan, but there’s nothing old school about the technology in this super cool family car.

A lot of what makes the ID.Buzz such a great EV is with help from Continental, and not just the energy-efficient EcoContact 6 Q summer tyres fitted to all of VW's new model as standard. There’s a whole host of high tech kit in the ID.Buzz that comes from Continental, and it’s all there to make your life with this Volkswagen as enjoyable as it stylish.

If the EV-specific tyres are the most easily spotted technology from Continental, the sophisticated electronics working behind the scenes are the hidden secrets of this retro-chic machine.

A lot of this technology is there to get the best from the car’s batteries, which is key to reliability and a long driving range in an EV. This is where Continental’s Intelligent Battery Sensor comes into play, which looks after the normal car battery rather than the one that powers the electric motor. By constantly checking the health of the battery and electronic systems it feeds, the ID.Buzz will keep you on the road, and the Intelligent Battery Sensor also extends the life of the battery to save you money.

For the big battery pack that powers the car, Continental has developed new ideas such as the latest tech to keep the batteries at the ideal working temperature. Cold and hot weather can affect driving range, so just like Goldilocks’s porridge this advanced coolant pipe technology keeps everything just right.

You won’t notice this as you drive the ID.Buzz, but what you will see are the door trim inserts that look like they are made from leather. However, they are in fact produced by Continental using its Acella Artificial Leather, which is much kinder to the environment as it doesn’t use any polluting metals or plastics when it’s made. In every other way it looks and feels just like real leather, but with minimal carbon dioxide emissions to help the ID.Buzz be carbon neutral when it leaves the factory.

This is perfect for the Volkswagen ID.Buzz as an EV, which also uses Continental technology for the powered boot opening, electric parking brake, and even the pipes for the brakes. Yet there’s still one more smart piece of technology in the ID.Buzz that you’ll enjoy using on many trips without realising.

This is the Long Range Radar, which is used for the VW's adaptive cruise control and emergency brake assist to help it avoid accidents. The radar scans the road ahead of the ID.Buzz all the time to keep it a safe distance from the car ahead and to spot obstacles and hazards, and it will warn the driver in advance or even apply the brakes if it senses immediate danger.

The best bit is all of this ingenious technology from Continental blends seamlessly into the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, making it an even more desirable EV than first meets the eye.