Volkswagen ID.Buzz to offer innovative new driver assistance systems

Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz, the electric successor to its iconic Kombi van, will be available in Europe with two new innovative driver assistance systems designed to help assist lane changing and make parking easier.

Officially launched earlier this year, the ID.Buzz was an immediate success, with orders topping 10,000 in its first few months.

With order books in the UK opening in June – hinting that maybe fellow right-hand drive market Australia would someday get a look-in – reports in late-September suggested that a planned revamp of its EV line-up in Australia would include the ID.Buzz.

If and when the ID.Buzz makes it to Australia, we can also hope that the electric passenger van will also arrive with the latest in Volkswagen’s driver assistance technology.

Announced this week, Volkswagen touted its new Travel Assist with swarm data and Park Assist Plus with memory function.

The new Travel Assist uses swarm data – basically data collected from multiple sources and shared across the cloud – to keep the vehicle in its lane, maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front, and ensures that the vehicle keeps to a maximum speed set by the driver.

According to Volkswagen, Travel Assist is able to keep the vehicle further left or right in the lane instead of exactly in the centre, adapting itself to the driver’s driving style.

Meanwhile, anonymised swarm data is collected from vehicles across the Volkswagen Group range to gather map material with specific features from the area surrounding the vehicle – such as marker lines and road signs.

This information is automatically transferred to the cloud where it is individually adapted to Volkswagen models that are currently driving along those same roads.

Finally, the new Travel Assist technology supports assisted lane changes above 90km/h. All drivers need do is tap the turn signal and the car is able to detect its surroundings and make a safe lane change – though the driver’s hands must remain on the steering wheel.

The second optional assistance system touted by Volkswagen this week is the Park Assist Plus with memory function. Capable of learning up to five individual parking manoeuvres, the memory function remembers parking procedures at below 40km/h and covering distances of up to 50 metres.

Drivers can also activate the Park Assist Plus in the Parking menu, allowing the car to search for a parking space and carry out the parking manoeuvre.

“In the ID. Buzz, iconic design meets innovative technology, and this is reflected in new convenience and assistance systems,” said Kai Grünitz, member of the Volkswagen Brand board of management responsible for development.

“We are taking the next step forward on the way to highly automated driving with the use of swarm data in the latest Travel Assist.

“This is in line with Volkswagen’s commitment to offer premium technology and innovations in as many models as possible.”

Read The Driven editor Giles Parkinson’s first drive review of the ID.Buzz here: First drive of Volkswagen ID.Buzz: Urban cool and tight turning circles