Volkswagen has rolled out two ID.Buzz electric vans steeped in Star Wars—and part of a collaboration with Lucasfilm and the recent debut of the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series on Disney+.
Like the series, the ID.Buzz is arriving later than originally anticipated. Production versions of the VW electric van won’t come to the U.S. until 2024, so hold your dewbacks. These vans aren’t actually fully realized concepts, but skins.
According to Volkswagen, designers from the automaker and from Lucasfilm collaborated on the project that uses “special adhesive films” applied to the exterior to give them each their distinct look—one for the Light-Side Edition, modeled after Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the other the Dark-Side Edition and modeled after Darth Vader. The Light Side has blue lines and underbody lighting, while the Dark Side carried a red hue and red underbody lighting.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen
While the dark side closely follows recent efforts from automakers to capitalize on popular dark-side editions labeled with Midnight, Night, Nightfall, Onyx, Nightshade, or Blackout—or, even, the 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV Redline Edition—bright-side editions that fully embrace such a look remain few and far between.
The collaboration builds on a recent commercial in which VW had teased in a Star Wars–themed commercial—droid chatter, Ewan McGregor, and all.
VW sees the rebooted VW Bus and Star Wars “Obi-Wan Kenobi” as reviving iconic things from the past, for new generations to enjoy. VW does hope to tap into some nostalgia with its production ID.Buzz—with an ID.California electric camper van, perhaps. And the Buzz might potentially be one of the models to receive more power and range via upgrades to its MEB platform.
