Remember when Mercedes' naming system was simple?

When a C-Class was a C-Class, and you didn't need a PhD in linguistics to decode what EQE SUV AMG 53 4MATIC+ means?

Related:

G-Wagon Popemobile Delivered.

Electric G-Wagon Popemobile featuring modern customizations like suicide doors and a swiveling throne

Rear view of the electric G-Wagon Popemobile highlighting zero-emission design

An electric G-Wagon custom-built for the Pope. With suicide doors, a swiveling throne, and zero emissions, it's the most environmentally conscious way to spread the good word since sandals.

Well, prepare for more confusion, because Mercedes is testing their new electric C-Class, which might not be called a C-Class at all.

Spotted wearing enough camouflage to hide a small army, Mercedes' latest electric endeavor appears to be their answer to the Tesla Model 3 - about a decade after Tesla started eating their lunch in the electric sedan market.

The car might be called the EQC (not to be confused with the old EQC SUV), or might not be called that at all.

Because Mercedes is apparently tired of their own EQ naming scheme.

Anyway, it represents the company's latest attempt to convince the world they're serious about electrification.

Related:

All 7 of Hamilton's Winning Cars - Now Under One Roof

Lewis Hamilton's championship-winning F1 cars displayed in the Mercedes Museum

Side-by-side view of Hamilton's iconic Formula 1 cars in their prime

While we look at these cars, Lewis charlies off to team Red. What a back-stab.

The spy shots reveal a car that looks suspiciously like a regular C-Class that's trying very hard to look futuristic. The prototype sports non-final headlights and taillights, along with protruding door handles that are clearly placeholders - because apparently, flush door handles are now mandatory for any car claiming to be electric and premium.

What's particularly interesting is that this car will ride on Mercedes' dedicated electric platform called MB.EA (yes, another acronym), while its smaller sibling, the electric CLA, will use something called MMA that can handle both electric and combustion engines.

Because why have one platform when you can have two?

And why use simple names when you can use abbreviations that sound like computer programming languages?

The styling appears to be sharper than the rather blob-like EQE and EQS, possibly taking cues from the Vision EQXX concept car - which, in case you're wondering, managed to drive from Stuttgart to Silverstone on a single charge, a feat Mercedes mentions approximately every seven minutes in their press releases.

Mercedes' commitment to going fully electric by 2030 (market conditions permitting, of course) is admirable, even if their naming department seems to be working overtime to make sure nobody can remember what any of their cars are called.

The good news is that they might be dropping the EQ branding altogether, starting with the electric G-Class in 2024. They’d named it the EQG, but probably will

The bad news?

They'll probably come up with something even more confusing.

As for when we'll see this electric C-Class-but-not-C-Class without camouflage, Mercedes isn't saying.

But given their recent track record with electric vehicles, expect it to arrive just in time to compete with whatever Tesla launched three years ago.