BREAKING Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.
North America’s version of the ID. Buzz has now officially been revealed. “Designed and tailor-made for the North American consumer,” in the words of Volkswagen of America chief executive Paolo Di Si, this version is near 10 inches longer than the two-row model. It’s still not huge, though. At 194.4 inches, front to back, it’s about 10 inches shorter than a Chrysler Pacifica minivan, but can still seat up to seven.
The two-row version and a commercial van version available in Europe will not be sold here, Di Si confirmed.
The ID. Buzz is designed to recall the Volkswagen T1, or Transporter. That iconic model was introduced in 1949 and is better known as the Microbus, or just the VW Bus. In America, it became associated with the Hippie movement, but the Bus also provided transportation for large families long before the front-wheel-drive minivan was invented by Chrysler in the 1980s.
The ID. Buzz is expected to be available in this market in late 2024. Like the original Bus, the base version of the ID. Buzz will be rear-wheel-drive, with power coming from a motor mounted in the back. This time it’s a quiet electric motor rather than a noisy gasoline engine.
It’s also far more powerful, and faster.
The electric motor is capable of producing 282 horsepower, more than 10 times the horsepower of an early VW Bus. The new ID. Buzz will also be available with all-wheel-drive, with a total of up to 330 horsepower coming from two electric motors, one at the front and one at the back.
The all-wheel-drive version has a top speed of 99 miles per hour, while the rear-wheel-drive van can reach 90 miles an hour.
More convenient and luxurious than its counterculture elder, the ID. Buzz has power-sliding doors to access the back on both sides. It also has small inset power-opening windows located within the big glass windows in the side doors. A power tailgate in back is also standard. Inside, a removable centre storage console has dividers that can be taken out and used as an ice scraper and a bottle opener.
The interior of the VW ID. Buzz has a 13-inch center touchscreen and a removable storage console. (Volkswagen of America, Inc.)
The ID. Buzz’s second-row seats slide forward to allow easier access to the third row and can fold down to allow for large cargo. The third row of seats can be removed altogether.
As in other VW ID. models, a light strip that runs across the dashboard provides helpful cues to the driver. It pulses to indicate the vehicle is ready to drive and can pulse toward one side or the other to signal a suggested turn. It also flashes if the collision avoidance system indicates urgent braking is needed.
According to VW, the original VW bus was introduced to supplement the Volkswagen Beetle, but “became a worldwide bestseller already in its first generation.” By 1967, 1.8 million had been manufactured.
The classic Microbus has become a favourite among collectors. Nicely kept versions have sold for six-figure sums. The world’s most valuable Hot Wheels car, worth as much as US$150,000, is a tiny Microbus.
The new long-wheelbase ID. Buzz will be available in Europe, as well, along with the short-wheelbase version which was launched there last fall. The ID. Buzz will go on sale in the U.S. next year. Prices will be announced closer to when the van becomes available, but are expected to start around US$40,000.
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.