VolkswagenID.3

Volkswagen ID.3 etymology: What does its name mean & letters stand for?

The Volkswagen ID.3 is an electric hatch and the first car to be based on the company’s MEB platform, but where does its name come from?


To be launched at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show, the ID.3 will be the first in a series of Volkswagens based on the MEB (Modularer Elektrobaukasten) architecture. All of these cars will wear the ID. name with a numerical suffix denoting the car’s size or position within the range.

The 3 class is used internally to refer to vehicles around the size of the Golf. Given the ID.3 is around the same length and width as the Golf, but taller, it’s clear where the suffix comes from.

According to Volkswagen, the ID. component “is not an abbreviation for a specific term, but stands symbolically for the characteristics that these vehicles combine: emission-free, automated driving, intuitive operation and personalized connectivity”

It also says ID. stands for “stands for intelligent design, identity and visionary technologies”.

Given how the theory of intelligent design rejects evolution, it’s probably a good thing ID. isn’t a specific contraction.