Volkswagen Teases New California Camper PHEV Concept

It seems that Volkswagen is embracing electromobility across the board, as its commercial vehicle arm, the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle, has unveiled new teaser images of the upcoming Volkswagen California Camper plug-in hybrid (PHEV) concept.

From the first teaser image, you can see the California PHEV concept is equipped with a pop-up roof that adds up to 2,000 MM of height to the van when deployed. Aside from the roof, said image also shows the van coming with extended awnings on both sides.

VW California PHEV concept (left) & VW Multivan (right)

In terms of design, this California PHEV concept doesn’t look that far-off from its non-PHEV twin, albeit with a new front fascia that looks similar to the one we saw on the latest VW Multivan.

Moving on to the second and last teaser image, it depicts the California PHEV in the same position as the first image, but with an addition of a touch control panel display for the thermostats, lights, and cooling box. Aside from that, nothing more can be derived from the two images, with said control panel being the only interior part of the California PHEV concept unveiled.

Volkswagen Multivan eHybrid PHEV

Mind you, this California camper concept is not the first PHEV model by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle, as this concept model is based on the existing VW Multivan eHybrid PHEV. It uses a 1.4-litre 4-cyl T-GDI engine that is mated to a single electric motor setup to deliver 215 HP (160 kW). Said motor is juiced by a small 10.4-kWh hybrid battery pack, granting the Multivan PHEV with an EV-only range of 48 KM.

In spite of sharing the same underbones, it is not clear whether the California PHEV concept will use the same powertrain setup as the Multivan PHEV.

Volkswagen ID.Buzz EV MPV

Aside from this new PHEV concept, VW is also planning to build a ‘California’ variant for its all-electric MPV, the VW ID.Buzz. While no official details were unveiled about this new ID.Buzz variant, we’d expect it to come with standard motorhome features like a sleeping area, small kitchen, and more. More details about this new model will be revealed as we approach its supposed debut date in 2025.

As for the VW California PHEV concept, this electrified camper concept will make its global debut later in Aug 25 at the Caravan Salon show, happening in Dusseldorf, Germany. The full production version is set to arrive later in 2024.