New Volkswagen ID.2 seen for first time: EV supermini prototype gets set for 2026

One of the year’s most important new cars has been partially revealed, with the production version of the Volkswagen ID.2All, or ID.Polo as it could be called, appearing on VW’s design centre social media channels. The importance of this car isn’t to be underestimated because while it does represent the brand’s electrified future, it’s also the beginning of a new era of design that will inform all new Volkswagen models in the future. 

Compared to the ID.2All concept, this prototype does reveal a few changes. The body looks taller and less sculptured, especially around the nose; the bonnet shutline sits up on the top surface of the car, rather than meeting the grille lower down the nose as it does on the concept. 

Hidden away in the camouflage is a set of small headlights joined by a lightbar that also don’t look quite the same as the concept’s. However, it is very possible that many of the front-end’s silver details could still be hidden under the disguise.

What has been brought across to this new car is the concept’s more traditional two-box silhouette, defined by its more upright windscreen and a longer bonnet. We can also see a clean, upright rear end and more thin lightbars, plus a sense of flush-fitting and clean surfaces reminiscent of the concept.

Other details such as flush door handles, frameless Polestar-style door mirrors and a chunky set of 20-inch wheels give us more information about what we’ll see in the production model;  it’s shaping up to be a definite change over the current generation of VWs. 

These images join our initial look at VW’s first prototypes testing at the Nurburgring, disguised under a shortened ID.3 body sitting on the new ‘MEB Entry’ architecture. This will be an optimised version of the previous car’s platform that won’t just be more flexible, but will also run with largely front-mounted single-motor powertrains in contrast to most of today’s, which are rear-mounted. 

It will not just lead to more scope for manufacturing simplification, but also return VW’s electric models to a more familiar set of physical proportions and driving dynamics familiar to its beloved combustion models. These images show off a few major differences, including a new charge port on the front wing, rather than the rear quarter of all current MEB products.

Given that this is a simplified set of underpinnings, we’re not expecting the new MEB Entry architecture to break any records when it comes to battery size or charging speeds. But VW has been adamant that efficiency is of peak importance, and ensuring that even if battery sizes don’t go up, their energy efficiency means they’ll post equal, if not better range figures to today’s ID.3. 

Beyond the technical elements, though, the ID.2 will also right VW’s path in terms of in-cabin tech and user interfaces. Physical controls are back on the agenda under the new design mandate, with a balance of digital interfaces and tactile elements across the interior. The overall design inside and out will also be cleaner, smarter and more directly related to the premium-not-posh methodology that made cars like the Golf and Polo so compelling over their many decades of success. 

However we’ll have to wait until the end of 2025 or early 2026 to see VW’s new generation of EVs in production form. As well as this ID.2 model, we also expect a crossover of similar size to join the range soon, until a new Golf-sized ID.3 replacement arrives to be sold alongside the existing combustion-powered Golf later in the decade. As well as VW, this platform will also find homes under future Cupra, Skoda and even SEAT superminis, plus a plethora of new crossover models across all three of VW’s ‘core’ brands

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