Automakers Rebrand Electric Vehicles, Drop Confusing Badges

Miami Herald

21-05-2025

"What's in a name?" Shakespeare asked. When it's a car we're talking about, a badge can mean a lot. And that's why a number of automakers have begun rethinking the nameplates they've been saddling their battery-electric vehicles with.
Volkswagen, for one, said this week it will walk away from the "ID" badge used for its growing line-up of EVs. It follows Mercedes-Benz which will give up on its largely meaningless "EQ" alphanumeric nomenclature, and Toyota officials told Autoblog they're ready to walk away from the "bZ" badge as new EVs come to market.
"Initially, these names sounded good on paper…as a way to distinguish their EVs from the rest of the line-up," said Stephanie Brinley, principal auto analyst with S&P Global Mobility, "but as the model range expands, it becomes more confusing."
Since it launched one of the most expensive EV development program in industry history, the Volkswagen brand has distinguished its all-electric products with the ID nomenclature, initially followed by a number indicating the vehicle's size class. That started with the midrange ID.4 to which VW has since added the smaller ID.3 crossover, the bigger ID.5, and the sporty ID.7 sedan.
It began to break with that strategy with the launch of the ID.Buzz microvan. And, going forward, the German marque's EVs "will get proper names again," Martin Sander, Volkswagen's marketing and sales chief told German business publication Auto und Wirtschaft.
The automaker already has referred to the microvan as simply "Buzz" in some situations, and the new approach is expected to formally appear with the launch of production versions of the ID.Every1 and ID.2all concept vehicles – which are widely expected to be badged Up and Polo, respectively.
When Toyota launched its first modern EV a couple years ago, it saddled the electric crossover with the ungainly bZ4X badge. While that's likely not the primary reason while sales have lagged expectations, it certainly didn't help, acknowledged the brand's marketing chief Mike Tripp.
So, with the debut of a major 2026 update, the EV not only gets more power, more range and more tech features but a newly shortened name, bZ. And a new off-road-oriented variant blends adds a more conventional moniker, bZ Woodlands. And once the EV goes through a major makeover, several officials told Autoblog on background, it will likely adopt the name of one of Toyota's existing, non-electric model lines. That's expected to happen with other EVs set to debut over the next 12 to 18 months.
"We're going to stick with conventional names for future electric vehicles," Toyota brand marketing chief Mike Tripp said in an interview. "It always makes sense to use an existing product name because it has awareness," Tripp explained.
We've already heard from Mercedes-Benz, which will downplay the alpha-format EQ badging used for its recent EV entries, such as the flagship EQS line.
The shift starts with the launch of an all-electric version of the classic G-Wagen. Originally set to be dubbed EQG, it instead will come to market as the G580 with EQ Technology. Expect that approach to continue with other upcoming battery-electric models, while the current EQS, EQE and EQB models will eventually be rebadged, as well.
That said, Mercedes will still make things a bit confusing, using the "e" designation for hybrids, such as the S580e. And there'll be a unique moniker for electrified AMG products.
Some brands are simply adding a letter to designate "electrified" models, as BMW does with its "I" entries. The Chevrolet brand has retained familiar badges, adding EV to the end of names like Equinox, Blazer and Silverado. So has its sibling, GMC, with the Hummer and Sierra EVs.
Curiously, General Motors' flagship Cadillac brand moved away from its own, oft-criticized alphanumeric approach when it went electric. While gas models have been saddled with soulless badged like CTS and XT5, its first all-electric offering went with the cute, if quirky Lyriq nomenclature. Optiq and Vistiq will follow, while the battery-electric version of the brand's SUV flagship has been dubbed Escalade IQ.
With so many more EVs to come, other manufacturers are starting to rethink their own naming policies. Hyundai's approach, blending "Ioniq," with a number indicating the vehicle's size, works for now, as does sibling brand Kia's approach with models like the EV4, EV6 and EV9. But the two Korean carmakers plan to bring out more than a dozen all-electric offerings and may run out of alphanumeric options at some point.
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