Mercedes will drop the EQ branding on EVs from next year

EV names, and EV branding in general, has been quite the hot mess throughout the industry these past few years. Mercedes has been one of the least worst offenders in this area, though. While "EQ" isn't the best brand around, the way it was used made sense, once you got the hang of the idea. "EQ" signified an electric Mercedes, and the letter after would refer you back to the traditional "Klasse". So EQA for the new A-Klasse, EQS for the new, electric S-Klasse, and so on.

And yet, the company is now rumored to have decided to drop the "EQ" prefix from future EV models. According to German daily Handelsblatt (via Reuters), starting at the end of 2024 there will be no more Mercedes EQ.

The reason reportedly has to do with the company going all-in with EVs making the EQ branding redundant. If electric cars are the only cars Mercedes will sell, there's no point in differentiating electric Mercedes cars with the additional EQ brand. And given Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius' focus on electric-only cars, this makes perfect sense.

A Mercedes spokesperson issued the following statement on the matter:

With the goal of our parent brand Mercedes-Benz becoming fully electric by the end of the decade, we will adapt the positioning of the vehicles and thus also the use of the brand in line with the times, but it is too early for details on this at the moment.

That sounds like a classic PR non-confirmation confirmation (akin to the also classic non-denial denial, but in reverse). So if you had developed some level of emotional attachment to the letters E and Q as relating to high-end German luxury electric cars, you have a little under two years to sever those ties for good.