Real Car Names Are So Back

• Volkswagen will reportedly soon drop the “ID” prefix from its EV models.
• The company joins Mercedes, Audi, and other automakers who have already decided to rebrand their EV models in a more normal way.
• This will likely start as early as 2026 with the release of the VW ID.2—a vehicle that will soon be named something else.

VW has finally figured out the folks don’t like car models that sound like they’re firmware versions, or trying to figure out whether or not to include an arbitrary period halfway through typing the name.

According to a new interview with Austrian outlet Auto und Wirtschaft, the bigwigs at Volkswagen have officially decided to drop the “ID” branding from its future EVs. That’s right, models like the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.Buzz are the end of an era. Future VWs like the ID.2 and the newly announced VW ID. EVERY1 will get more normal names—not a jumble of all-caps letters, punctuation and numbers on the trunk lid.

“The cars will get proper names again,” said VW Board Member Martin Sander in an interview with the publication. “This question will arise specifically with the market launch of new models—neither the ID. 2 nor the ID. EVERY1 will have those names in series production.”

The ID2 is slated to be launched in 2026, meaning that Volkswagen will likely begin its name changes around that time. It also happens to line up with comments from another VW Board Member, Kai Grünitz, made earlier this year, acknowledging that current ID models will start receiving facelifts around the same time.

Volkswagen hasn’t given any hint of the new names or design just yet. Sander says that’ll happen “when the time comes.” That gives the Germans a perfect time to shuffle things around in the style department and usher in new branding for its EVs.

To be fair, the ID nameplate was never that bad, it just wasn’t Volkswagen. The company built its reputation on models like the Golf, Jetta and Passat (all names that come with a cool, consistent backstory). Switching it up might have felt right for VW’s new era of electrified cars, but those modern names aren’t really emotional. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that the brand is having a difficult time in North America right now.

So we say good riddance, ID. You ushered VW into a new era of electrification, but maybe not with a name that felt truly remarkable. And it’s about time that automakers have started making this switch. I mean, Mercedes-Benz saw it with the EQ lineup and Audi backtracked on its weird numbering system, too.

Maybe the best way to look at this is Volkswagen finally admitting that EVs aren’t some weird, premium sideshow anymore. They’re normal cars driven by regular people that just happen to run on electricity instead of dinosaur juice. And that means they deserve normal names.