A Class to Cease Production in 2026

[markjay]

Would a mild hybrid be an issue for you?

I have one and you wouldn’t know it was anything but just a petrol car, well maybe except that it pulls a little better than you would expect.

I drove a rental W205 facelift with the 1.5L EQ engine (mild hybrid) back in 2019, and it was as you describe it.

 

[toteimerced]

It can be arbitrary, VW keeping the Golf name since the seventies, while Ford dropping the name Escort in favour of Focus, or Cortina for Sierra then for Monedo, etc. The real question is whether they keep making cars in the same segment, as opposed to what they're calling them.

The key issue with ICE cars converted to EVs is that while they are cheaper to make than to design a brand new EV platform from the ground up, there's a limit to the efficiency that can be achieved in this way.

VW developed a purpose built EV platform for the ID. series, Hyundai and Kia developed the E-GMP platform, etc. The fact that they chose new model designation is simply a marketing decision. Just as Ford decided to keep the name Escort for the FWD Mk2, which was a totally different car to the (very successful) RWD Mk1.

The mk2 was rwd, but basically the same car as the mk1, the mk3 was fwd, I think you probably meant.

 

[markjay]

The mk2 was rwd, but basically the same car as the mk1, the mk3 was fwd, I think you probably meant.

Yes...