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2025 VW ID Buzz 1st Edition or a Toyota Sienna Hybrid AWD - Which Is the Better Green Minivan?

We play “Would you rather…” with the new Volkswagen ID Buzz battery-electric minivan and Toyota’s legendary Sienna hybrid. 

Volkswagen launched its new six- or seven-passenger minivan this quarter. The ID Buzz is battery-electric and can be either two or all-wheel drive. Let’s compare some of its attributes to the current green minivan leader, the Toyota Sienna hybrid-electric vehicle. Our readers can choose which they prefer.

Image of Toyota Sienna by john Goreham.‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric - Size and Seats
The ID Buzz has about 163 cubic feet of passenger volume, and the Sienna has about 162. The Buzz can come configured with six or seven seats, and the Sienna seven or eight. 

Related Story - Toyota Sienna AWD Snow Testing

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Prices
The ID Buzz First Edition 4MOTION has a price of $71,545. The Toyota Sienna Platinum AWD has a price of $58,230 including the optional spare tire. Here, the Sienna has an advantage of $13,315. That is roughly the cost of a used Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric - Resale Value
Our estimates are that the Sienna hybrid would be among the minivans that retain value best. Both Toyota-branded vehicles and hybrids tend to have strong resale value. We would predict that the ID Buzz will follow its BEV counterparts and be ranked worst among minivans due to its powertrain. VW's dire business situation is not helping this. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Energy Cost
The EPA says that the Sienna has a 60,000-mile fuel cost of $5,200 and the VW a cost of $3,800 for electricity. This will vary wildly depending on where you live. Our readers can decide which is the best value based on tier electricity and fuel costs. With our electricity costing $0.32/kWh and gas under $3.00 per gallon, there is no meaningful difference exists between these two for energy in our area. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Green Impact
We don't know how many ID Buzz have been delivered to consumers yet, but we do know that as of the end of October, the number was zero.  We do know that Toyota delivers roughly 60,000 Siennas each year. Every one that Toyota ships saves the planet roughly 225 gallons of liquid fuel per year from being consumed vs. a conventionally-powered minivan. The ID Buzz saves more, but we expect it will sell in the range of about 20,000 units in 2025. Possibly less. An EV that does not sell does not save the planet. This one is a toss-up. 

Energy chart courtesy of www.fueleconomy.gov

 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Road Trip
The Sienna has a range between refills of 630 miles. The ID Buzz can only travel 230 miles before it needs to stop to charge. For the ID Buzz to travel 630 miles, it would have to charge up twice on the road, which would take between about an hour and about two hours at a typical DCFC charger. To charge on a Level 1 or 2 charger would be measured in days. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Safety
The Sienna has earned the Top Safety Pick Award from IIHS. The ID Buzz is as yet untested. The Sienna has an optional spare tire. The ID Buzz has no spare option. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Reliability
The Sienna has earned a 71/100 reliability score from Consumer Reports in 2024. The ID Buzz has not yet been scored because it is new. However, we can look to brand dependability ratings from J.D. Power. Toyota ranks second overall and first among brands that build minivans. VW is rated the fourth worst among all brands overall. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric Vehicle - Fun Factor
Torque News has not tested a VW media vehicle in quite some time. So we can't say how VWs drive these days. We would expect the VW ID Buzz to be more fun to drive than a Sienna, but we have no way to be certain. Here are our test notes from having tested the 2024 Sienna Platinum AWD:

The Sienna is so smooth and so serene it helps you to relax, even in the worst traffic. The vehicle is large, but you feel like you are in something more like a compact Forester. The front glass area is huge, and the side windows are also very large. This means you get a commanding view of the road. Better even than many large SUVs. You can see out the rear window just fine unless you have the back row packed with adults. And why would you ever do that? This van has no real blind spots if you know how to use mirrors properly. 

The off-the-line torque is delicious. You will learn to use the electric drive to start off in silence. If you want to drive like a dummy and hammer the accelerator, you can, and the Sienna will respond with good speed. In normal driving, you only notice the gas engine working in certain scenarios, like when merging, passing, or in the mountains. When the gas engine comes on, you do notice it, and many publications may point this out as a negative. The Sienna is a smooth and relatively quiet vehicle in every scenario. Our tester had 13,000 miles on the odometer and was 100% squeak, rattle, and buzz-free.

You steer the Sienna differently than you might a sedan, and it is enjoyable. We had one emergency braking-while-turning event in our week with the van, and it performed better than we would have expected an SUV to. We took the Sienna on multiple long suburban and rural drives of two hours, and it was perfect for such drives.

 

Image of ID Buzz courtesy of VW‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric - Looks
The ID Buzz has a cool retro style that evokes the old VW Microbus. We would say the VW wins this category without any doubt. 

‘25 VW ID Buzz Battery-Electric Vehicle vs. Toyota Sienna Hybrid-Electric - Conclusion
Based on our analysis and experience, the VW Buzz wins one of our many categories without any doubt. The Sienna ties or wins every one of the rest of the categories. In the comments below, tell us which you plan to buy and why.

Images of ID Buzz courtesy of VW. Image of Toyota Sienna by john Goreham. Energy chart courtesy of www.fueleconomy.gov.

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John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.