Future VW EVs Will Get Real Names

The Germans have been a fickle bunch as of late, at least when it comes to naming their vehicles. Volkswagen is the latest to reassess its branding strategy with plans to do away with the alphanumeric “ID” badging in favor of actual car names.

Just as electric vehicle styling ebbs and flows between avant-garde and traditional, so do the model names. In an interview with Auto und Wirtschaft, VW brand board member Martin Sander revealed that the ID.EVERY1 name wasn’t actually going to stick. Not for other upcoming models, either. 

“The cars will get proper names again,” he said. “This question will arise specifically with the market launch of new models – neither the ID.2all nor the ID.EVERY1 will have those names in series production.”

What the production names would actually be, Sander, who is part of Sales, Marketing, and After Sales management team, remained mum. “We’ll announce that when the time comes.”

According to Carscoops, future ID vehicles could adopt names that already exist in the VW vault. For example, the ID.2 could be renamed Polo, and the ID.1 could be identified as Lupo, Fox, or Up! Or, you know, Volkswagen could choose new names altogether. 

Kai Grünitz, another VW board member who is on the Technical Development side, previously mentioned that ID models would be significantly updated starting in 2026. Carscoops says that could be the ideal time to not only give every ID a facelift but also a new non-alphanumeric name. At the very least, drop that period and the awkward spacing (no space if followed by a number, space if followed by a letter). Marketing mayhem at its best.

The ID EV sub-brand was launched in 2017. In the U.S., we currently have ID.4 and ID.Buzz to choose from. The ID.7 was set to arrive, delayed, and then ultimately canceled. Having a vehicle name that doesn’t resemble a NASDAQ chart is one thing, but the VW EVs still have to be identifiable when you consider that ICE-powered models will be sold alongside for another few years. Perhaps VW can take a cue from its countrymen.

BMW gave its multi-faceted “i” a single job now: it’ll appear only on its electric models. Also, the eDrive and xDrive word salad might disappear with the Neue Klasse lineup, replaced with a more straightforward system. Audi has shifted its naming structure twice in as many years. First, it was a battle of the odd and even numbers before sensibility fought through to revert back to the As and the Qs. Then you’ve got Mercedes-Benz pretending the whole EQ thing never happened.

As Sander said, only time will tell. Hopefully, Volkswagen doesn’t end up on the EV name struggle bus that Honda is apparently in regarding its future electrified lineup.

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