I Parked My R1S Next to VW's New ID. Buzz, And It's Huge, Range and Price Make Rivian the Easy Choice

It used to be that a bus was a bus, and a truck was a truck. Somewhere between disco and dystopia, we let our vehicles grow up and out like suburban McMansions but forgot that growing up should mean growing useful, not just bigger for bigger’s sake. Enter the latest combatants in the battle of modern excess and purpose: the Volkswagen ID. Buzz and the Rivian R1S. One’s a retro-futurist homage to Woodstock and wacky German engineering; the other is a hypermodern brute from a startup. And yet, here they are, parked next to each other in a Reddit thread, casually exposing the weird new reality of what people actually drive in 2025.

Volkswagen ID. Buzz & Rivian R1S Redefine Size and Innovation

But what floored onlookers wasn’t the generational contrast; it was the sheer size of both machines. Slide-Fantastic-1402, put it plainly:

“I was surprised by how wide and tall the ID. Buzz is.

Definitely bigger than the old school VW Bus.”

He wasn’t kidding. The Buzz stretches 185 inches long and 78 inches wide, practically dwarfing the OG Microbus by a full foot in both dimensions. The future is not only electric; it’s also enormous.

And that’s where the paradox starts to show. The original VW Bus was a slab-sided, underpowered surf wagon for shoeless wanderers and army surplus mechanics. The ID. Buzz? It’s a 5,400-pound slab of modular intent, a pastel-colored, infotainment-laden ode to nostalgia repackaged as premium eco-mobility. Touch sliders, mood lighting, and enough USB-C ports to charge a minor nation’s worth of devices. Volkswagen wants you to believe it's recaptured the spirit of freedom, but really, it’s just gentrified it.

Meanwhile, the Rivian R1S stands as the apex predator in the world of electric SUVs- not quite mainstream, not quite exotic, but loaded with tech and torque. It has quad motors, a 0–60 time that’d embarrass some Porsches, and a ground clearance you could picnic under. 

Rivian R1S Engineering Insights: Chassis, Motor Configurations, & Sustainable Design

• The Rivian R1S utilizes a skateboard chassis, integrating the battery pack, electric motors, and suspension system into a single platform. This design lowers the vehicle's center of gravity, enhancing stability and handling both on-road and off-road. ​
• Initially launched with a quad-motor setup, the R1S delivers robust performance with independent control of each wheel. Rivian has expanded its offerings to include dual-motor and tri-motor configurations, providing customers with a range of power and efficiency options to suit different driving needs. ​
• Throughout the R1S's design process, Rivian has prioritized sustainability by incorporating eco-friendly materials in the interior and developing in-house electric drive units to reduce reliance on external suppliers. This approach not only minimizes environmental impact but also streamlines production and enhances vehicle performance.

It’s marketed to overlanders and digital nomads but, more often than not, spends its life crawling parking lots, not Moab. In both form and function, it reflects our cultural obsession with readiness for terrain we’ll likely never see and adventures we’ll never take.

And here’s where Reddit’s hive-mind chimed in with predictable insight. 

“If the ID. Buzz had 60 more miles of range and was $25k less; it would've had a chance.” 

Said user narmstrong79, distilling the issue with sniper accuracy. Range and price remain the two-headed hydra of EV adoption, especially in the U.S., where we measure convenience in highway miles and Costco runs. Dustyshades, a self-proclaimed R1S Launch Edition owner, added: 

“A Buzz would likely beat my R1S on a roadtrip race. But it’s too expensive and also VW’s software sucks.” 

That’s the hard truth: behind the Buzz’s smiley face lies the infamous VW infotainment UX, a UX designed, presumably, by interns with unmedicated ADHD.

Redefining Mobility and Family Travel

What we’re watching unfold isn’t just a product comparison; it’s the emergence of an entirely new segment: the Electric Adventure Van. It’s not quite a minivan, not quite a crossover, and definitely not a pickup. It promises freedom but often delivers confusion.

The ID. Buzz can swallow cargo like a canyon and haul your kids to soccer with style, but so can a Pacifica PHEV, for half the price and twice the cupholders. Meanwhile, the R1S gives you a frunk, a gear tunnel, a 316-mile EPA range, and access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. That’s a hard thing to ignore when the average road trip means you’re not trying to think about where to plug in, just go.

Bigger but Less Practical? Examining the Utility Paradox in Modern EVs

And yet, the vehicles keep getting bigger while their actual utility quietly shrinks. Pickup truck beds? Practically vestigial at this point. What used to be designed for loading hay bales or toolboxes is now just big enough for a couple of gym bags and a Milwaukee Packout. We stretched cabins, bloated fenders, and added screens, but somewhere along the way, we forgot that utility is supposed to be, well, useful. The ID. Buzz’s cargo area is impressive, 77 cubic feet with the seats folded, but the sheer bulk of the thing makes it as hard to park as a UPS truck. And don’t get me started on Rivian’s R1T, a pickup with a 4.5-foot bed pretending it’s a hauler.

This brings us to the real problem: choice. Not the kind of choice that empowers, but the kind that paralyzes. Do you want the quirky Euro-van with sustainable vegan trim and iffy software? Or the high-dollar electric tank with 835 horsepower and a digital brain? Redditors argued over range, frunks, and even the practicality of roof racks. One pointed out that parking the Buzz at Trader Joe’s is “like parallel parking a rhino,” while another praised its “submarine hatch” rear doors. The comments were a perfect microcosm of the EV moment: passionate, polarizing, and often more about vibe than use case.

The Battle Between Volkswagen ID. Buzz and Rivian R1S

So here we are in 2025, staring down two vehicles that represent the same ambition from wildly different directions. The ID. Buzz wants you to remember your youth, even if you never had one. The R1S wants to futureproof your adulthood, even if it mostly lives in a garage. One is a soft-edged hauler of people, pets, and plants. The other is a trail-capable electric monolith engineered to outpace your imagination. Both are compelling. But if you’re looking for range, charging speed, long-distance comfort, and something that doesn’t feel like a $60K experiment, then yeah, Rivian is the easy choice.

Image Sources: Reddit r/Rivian, Volkswagen Media Center, Rivian Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.