(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Volkswagen is going back to the past for its latest electric vehicle.
The German automaker is introducing an electric reboot of the VW Microbus, which became associated with the 1960s counterculture.
The car is for sale in Europe, and will be introduced to the American car market in 2024.
Automotive Industry Analyst John McElroy told the WBBM Noon Business Hour on Thursday that the car will have a classic look and a new name.
"They're calling it the ID Buzz. ID because that's what Volkswagen is calling all of its electric vehicles," McElroy said.
Car companies are preparing for a major shift to electric vehicles in this decade. With gas prices breaking records that were set in 2008, McElroy anticipates greater interest in electric vehicles, or EVs.
He said that interest usually wanes as soon as gas prices go down. Note, McElroy said, the gas price shocks of the 1970s.
"From 1979 to roughly 1982 you couldn't sell big cars or trucks or SUVs. Then the situation flipped, gasoline prices went back down, you couldn't give small cars away and everyone went back to the big ones," he said.
