What Would You Like To Know About A $250,000 VW Type 2 Bus EV Restomod?

So today I’m out traveling to the Westest of coasts to drive something interesting: a completely restored and restomodded Volkswagen Type 2 Bus, with a full electric drivetrain conversion and upgrades for pretty much everything. It’s made by a company called Kindred, and I have to admit, it looks positively stellar. The only real downside I’ve noticed so far is that these completely re-built Buses start at about $249,000, which is about a quarter of a million dollars more than I can afford.

I’ll admit, I am a little conflicted about all this. Of course, I love the Volkswagen Type 2 bus, period. It’s a fantastically rational vehicle designed for the humble purpose of being a cheap commercial stuff-hauler that somehow ended up becoming one of the most iconic vehicles of all time, a symbol of a particular era. The intention wasn’t to make a cultural icon, it was to make a box on wheels, but it just became so much more.

I’ve gushed about the VW Bus plenty, and before I go off on a tangent about how it’s the conceptual successor to the Stout Scarab, maybe you can just watch this video we did on the Bus and I’ll get back to the subject at hand, these Kindred restomods.

So, my conflict: I adore old VW Buses, but I also feel like they’ve morphed into something nearly unobtainable for most people now, which is just never what was intended. Restored buses now – especially the 21 or 23 window ones – sell for, on average, close to $100,000. Granted, those prices are for well-restored ones, but finding even a rough early split-windshield bus is an expensive proposition no matter what.

So, with that in mind, maybe nearly $250,000 for an electric, completely re-worked one isn’t so absurd. It’s still a colossal amount of money, though.

I’m curious how much of the Bus’ character will be lost in such a translation to EV. Old buses were rattly, loud, slow things, and these EV ones promise to be silent and fast and solid. Will I miss the old mechanical clatter and busy-ness of old Buses? Or will I be happy to have about 294 hp on tap and modern, power disc brakes and a whole new suspension setup and all that?

I think Kindred builds these on their own bespoke EV chassis; that’ll be one of the things I’ll find out. I’m also curious just where the batteries are stored; is that the actual chassis above, and are they all in a big box at the rear? The Bus’ packaging would lend itself to that sort of layout, as you can see:

But wouldn’t that make for even worse weight distribution than the original? I don’t know just yet.

The interior layout, with its wraparound seating, does hint at under-seat battery storage there; it’s definitely not in the floor, which looks too thin. The battery is 74 kWh, good for a range of around 200 miles, about as good as a modern VW ID.Buzz. It’ll support DC fast charging, too.

The wheels look different, too, likely to accommodate the powered disc brakes. There’s a double wishbone front suspension instead of the old torsion arms, too, and a real rack-and-pinion steering setup. What will a bus with modern suspension and about 260 more horsepower feel like?

It’s a beautiful-looking restoration. They’re starting with non-23-window 1950-1963 buses, and they’re turning them into 23-window ones. They also seem to be using pre-1960 bullet turn indicators and the small round taillights, along with the overrider-free Euro bumpers.

There’s more modern (and heated) seats inside, a modern screen stuck in that metal dash, and overall looks beautifully appointed.

Is that just a forward-neutral-reverse lever now?

I should have one to drive for a number of hours on Wednesday, so if there’s anything you’d like to see or know specifically, let me know now and I’ll see what I can find out!

I’m very eager to try this happy thing, even if I can’t possibly grow and sell enough kidneys to ever actually own one. Even if I sold all three of the kidneys I have now!