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The new VW T7 Multivan: an oversized Golf
Photo: Uli Sonntag / Volkswagen
Cult car, image bearer, van icon - when it comes to the VW bus, such terms are not far.
Especially when, like now, the manufacturer introduces a new generation of models.
VW Commercial Vehicles has unveiled the seventh generation of the Bulli with a digital world premiere.
The new series should "usher in the dawn of a new era," they say.
In fact, however, it is more of an intermediate step.
Because the really big innovation, the electrification of the minibus, will not follow until next year: Then the ID Buzz will come onto the market as a series vehicle.
But why is VW Commercial Vehicles bringing up a completely new Bulli, the T7 series?
What you can read between the lines of the official announcements: The ID Buzz as a car and the variant ID Buzz Cargo as a small van will not be considered as long-haul or touring vehicles for the time being due to their manageable range.
Confusing model structure
At the same time, the praised "all-round talents" of the new T7 are not unlimited either. The new car is only available in the Multivan model variant, i.e. as a variable family vehicle with up to seven seats. The transporter variant, the nine-seater Caravelle and the California camping model are still offered on the basis of the more robust, previous Bulli series T 6.1. It has now been renovated several times, but its basic features correspond to the T5 series from 2003.
The new T7 Multivan, on the other hand, is based on the Group's all-purpose platform MQB, i.e. the modular transverse matrix.
This turns the Bulli into an oversized VW Golf in a way.
The Multivan will also have a digital cockpit and multimedia system in the future.
Numerous touch surfaces replace switches and rotary controls, there are almost two dozen assistance systems, such as cruise control with automatic distance control, lane guidance aid, 360-degree all-round visibility and partially automated driving - whereby the driver must remain ready to intervene at all times.
Individual seats for more flexibility
Customers should be more interested in a few practical innovations. There is a continuously level floor in the interior with a new rail system. Up to five individual seats in all possible configurations can be fixed in the rear. There is no longer a bench. The seats have become lighter, they weigh between 26 and 29 kilograms, depending on the variant. Installation and removal or loading and unloading also becomes easier. In the future, two sliding doors will be installed as standard. Another new feature is a multifunction table that can be set up in different ways and used where it is needed - among other things as a sliding center console between the two front seats.
There is nothing else there except a free passage to the rear.
Instead of a handbrake with a classic lever, there is only a cockpit switch for the parking brake.
Not even a gear stick protrudes from the dashboard, because all Multivan models come with DSG transmissions.
They are operated "by wire", ie electronically, with a small button.
Multivan partially electric for the first time
The new MQB basis helps to make the T7 Multivan not only more digital, but also more practical. And probably more efficient too. There will be two four-cylinder petrol engines with 136 or 204 hp and a four-cylinder turbodiesel with 150 hp. And for the first time a plug-in hybrid drive consisting of a turbo gasoline engine and an electric machine. This combination has an output of 218 hp and, in conjunction with a lithium-ion battery with 13 kWh storage capacity, enables a purely electric range of around 50 kilometers.
What Multivan prospective buyers with underground parking space should be interested in is the slightly different format of the seventh generation.
The car has been stretched by seven centimeters to now 4.97 meters, and the width has also increased by almost four centimeters to now 1.94 meters.
However, the height fell by almost five centimeters to 1.90 meters.
There is also a long version of the car with an identical wheelbase, measuring 5.17 meters.
The new Multivan is due to hit the market in the fall.
VW Commercial Vehicles has not yet announced any prices, but an entry price of just under 40,000 euros is likely.
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