In July, we found out that VW trademarked a handful of names in Europe including e-Beetle, e-Karmann, e-Kubel and e-Golf Classic. We talked to VW at the time, and the company said it trademarks names for all sorts of things, and to not read too much into it. We ignored that. And we shall again.
Today the same site that broke the e-Beetle news, VWIDTalk, found another European trademark VW filed, for the name e-Thing. Obviously, that reminds us of the original car, and “e” would seem to point to electric.
Again, VW has said numerous times, trademarks don’t mean it’s building an electric “insert name here with e at the beginning.”
Still, the new Volkswagen ID Buggy would be a perfect fit for the name, if it wasn’t using ID for all its electric vehicles. It’s a roadster. It’s silly looking. It could be the next Thing! But probably not.
Another option, and we’re just spitballing here, VW could do what some other automakers have done and start putting new electric powertrains in old vehicles. In that scenario, e-Beetle, e-Karmann and e-Thing make sense.
Once one of these names actually goes on a vehicle, we’ll have a better sense of what VW is up to. Until then, we’ll be squatting on e-Passat, e-Jetta and e-Corrado.
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