Electric Car Awards 2025: Best electric 7-seater

Style versus substance: the existential dilemma that faces anyone choosing a product of any kind. Do you care more about the way the thing you’re buying performs, or is the way it looks your top priority? After all, you don’t splash out on a Rolex Submariner because it keeps time better than a £20 Casio; you buy it because it’s a style statement.

Just occasionally, though, something comes along that offers the best of both worlds, and the Volkswagen ID Buzz LWB is one such product. Yes, it’s achingly desirable, thanks to its retro design – especially if you add the £2790 two-tone paint – but its beauty is far more than skin deep.

Unlike many electric SUVs, the Buzz’s boxy physique means there’s oodles of head, leg and shoulder room in all seven seats. And it’s easy to get into them, because the sliding rear side doors are longer than those of the regular model.

True, if all the seats are in use, a Vauxhall Corsa will match the Buzz for luggage room, but when you fold or remove some of them, it beats anything this side of a van for load-lugging ability.

The Buzz bears no comparison with a van, though, when it comes to the driving experience. It’s extremely comfortable – more so than the rival Kia EV9 – and lovely to waft about in, even if it’s not remotely sporty.

The driving position is great, too; you sit high in the light and cheery interior in what feels like a captain’s chair, with a Range Rover-like vista of the road ahead. And despite its considerable size, the Buzz is easy to place on the road and surprisingly manageable to park.

The only real negative inside relates to Volkswagen’s obsession with touch-sensitive buttons, which take their toll on user-friendliness, although the infotainment touchscreen was recently improved.

The long-wheelbase ID Buzz costs only around £500 more than the standard-length model, and as well as two extra seats, you get a larger battery that officially delivers up to 291 miles of range – less than the EV9 can manage, but more than the Mercedes EQV. Likewise, its 200kW charging rate falls right between those models; a 10-80% top-up takes around half an hour.

Neither of those cars is likely to hold on to as much of their value as the Buzz, though, and they’ll cost you far more each month on a PCP finance deal.

Best used electric 7-seater

Mercedes EQB (2022-present)

Price from £22,000

Great value used, and the fact that it has seven seats almost comes second to the EQB’s luxury car credentials.

Used Mercedes EQB buying guide >>

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