Still confused by Volkswagen's electric car ID badges? You're not alone, and now Volkswagen is going to join a growing number of automakers in ditching them. The ID.4 is about to get a facelift and a new identity.
It still might be a little confusing though. That's because the ID.4 will become the ID Tiguan starting later this year.
Finally, Real Names Again
We're still trying to wrap our heads around Volkswagen's ID lineup. Not just the ever-changing ID versus ID. with a dot, and whether or not there's a space, but what each model actually is. It's even tougher, because Volkswagen gives some of them names when they're concepts but returns to numbers later.
Meanwhile on the gas side, Volkswagen has some very well-known brands. Golf, Tiguan, Atlas, and so forth. So it seems the company will take advantage of that going forward, which will be even more confusing for a brief period of time.
The first to undergo a name/number switcharoo is a car we won't get in the States. The ID Polo was known as the ID.2all in concept car form (and before that the ID. Life), then as the ID.2, before Volkswagen wisened up and gave it the Polo name.
To help avoid confusion with the ID.4 becoming the ID. Tiguan, Volkswagen is making it part of a wider refresh. Automotive News reported on the name change, and said that the refreshed EV will get changes to make it look more like the gas-powered Tiguan.
It will also be better-positioned to the Tiguan in pricing. The change will help bring Volkswagen's combustion and electric model lines more into harmony, and will likely make it easier for customers to shop.
This plan was first announced late last summer. Volkswagen hasn't said when the various models in its current EV line will change over. At the same time, Volkswagen will be shifting production. It currently builds the electric SUV at both its Emden and Zwickau plants. The former will take over the entire model, with a winding down at Zwickau.
Plant Will Become A Recycling Center
Until recently, the Zwickau plant was a flagship electric facility for the Volkswagen Group. It was converted fully to EV production in 2019, and has built more than 1 million EVs since 2021. Volkswagen will be reducing the plant to just one production line, but has a new plan for the space.
The Zwickau vehicle plant will become Volkswagen's central center for the "circular economy." Essentially, it will become a dismantler, stripping down 15,000 vehicles per year to get back good used parts and recover raw materials. It's a rough end for a city that has been building cars since 1904. Expect more electric Volkswagen models to take on more conventional names like ID. Golf, ID. Cross (for the T-Cross), and others.
Mercedes-Benz and Audi have also gone through electric naming headaches. Audi made the decision to change its even-numbered models, which had been used to mark sedans and crossovers, to refer to its EVs. The odd numbers, which used to mean coupes and crossover coupes, would just mean gas. It abandoned the plan mid-stream, which has left it with a mix of confusing names now.
Benz decided to label its EVs with an EQ badge. EQS and EQS SUV, along with the EQE and EQE SUV to start. Now its EVs will have the name of the gas model, with "with EQ technology" appended. So the electric G-Class is now the G580 with EQ technology. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but at least automakers are finally stepping away from the marketing gobbledygook that became silly EV names.
Source: Automotive News