Iconic Volkswagen model names will carry into the electric era, starting with the ID. Polo – with a GTI grade, and the return of physical dials inside – to address the mixed reception to today’s ID.3 and ID.4 models.
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The Volkswagen ID.2 electric-car concept will go into production next year as the 2026 Volkswagen ID. Polo, alongside a sporty GTI hot-hatch variant, official ‘teaser’ images published overnight have confirmed.
It will be the first model in an updated naming scheme that will see Volkswagen electric cars borrow names from its petrol-driven range, given the likes of Polo, Golf and Tiguan are better known than ID.2, ID.3 and ID.4.
The electric ID. Polo will live alongside the petrol-fuelled Polo, which is set for a styling update this year to keep it fresh until closer to the end of the decade, amid continued demand for small, affordable cars and SUVs.
“Our model names are firmly anchored in people’s minds. They stand for a strong brand and embody characteristics such as quality, timeless design and technologies for all,” Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer said.
“That’s why we’re moving our well-known names into the future. The ID. Polo is just the beginning.”
Due in European showrooms in 2026, the ID. Polo is closely related to the ID. 2all concept of 2023, and wears a new, more conventional design language than today’s ID electric models.
The interior is an even greater departure from other electric Volkswagens, with a focus on physical buttons and dials to complement screens, following criticism of the touch-heavy interfaces of the German brand’s current vehicles.
Included in the ID. Polo range will be a GTI variant – again, a more familiar name than the GTX badge used on current sporty electric VWs – expected to use a single 166kW front electric motor for a zero to 100km/h acceleration time of about seven seconds.
Both the GTI and regular variants will sit on a new MEB Entry electric-car platform, which returns to front-wheel drive from the rear-drive ID.3, and is intended to reduce costs to less than 25,000 Euros ($AU40,000) for the cheapest trim grades.
The German car giant has released images of camouflaged, near-production versions of both vehicles, which will go on display at the Munich motor show next week.
They will share the stand with the ID. Cross Concept, an SUV version of the ID. Polo, which the brand says will spawn the production ID. Cross “at the end of 2026 as the electric counterpart to the T-Cross.”
“Volkswagen will transfer more established names to the electric portfolio with each new model generation,” the company said in a media release this week.
“At the same time, all vehicles with conventional drives will continue to run under their previous names. With this strategy, Volkswagen is bringing together the electric and combustion engine worlds, helping customers navigate the brand’s product range more easily in the future.”
The next ID model to follow the Polo siblings is expected to be a reworking of the ID.4 mid-size SUV, with familiar underpinnings but a new exterior and interior, the latter with more physical buttons akin to its city-hatch range-mate.
It remains to be seen if it will be renamed ID. Tiguan, or if that will be saved for an all-new model at a later date.
The ID. Golf badge is not expected to appear until the ninth-generation model arrives closer to 2030, when it is set to remain on sale alongside today’s eighth-generation Golf, which reports suggest may survive in showrooms until 2035 with additional updates.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
