What’s in a name? Naming electric cars has proven to be a difficult task for automakers with existing car lineups. How do you balance the need to differentiate a product with the reality that you already have a ton of popular nameplates? One automaker in particular has been suffering from this problem.
It’s been a tough few years for Infiniti as the also-ran-also-ran Japanese premium automaker has shed market share and generally underperformed relative to its rivals, both Japanese and otherwise. Its brief moments of verve always seem too brief, and its long product cycles always seem too long. Is it fixable? There are underlying reasons why I don’t think it is.
Are fuel cells the future? Probably not. Nevertheless, there are at least two companies that refuse to give up on them.
And, finally in this installment of The Morning Dump, the auto show isn’t dead, it’s just that everything is an auto show now.
Many Automakers Are Quite Bad At This
I don’t envy the folks at older car companies whose job it is to come up with names for new electric vehicles. Do you lean on history? Do you append letters like “E” or “I” to your existing names? Do you start over completely?
There are some examples of doing it right and many examples of doing it wrong.
Take Mercedes-Benz. The company assumed it would be transitioning eventually to electric cars, and launched a brand of vehicles under the EQ banner: EQS (the big one), EQE (the middle one), EQB (the crossover one). There was some logic to this, as it matches S-Class, E-Class, and GLB. This quickly stopped making sense as the company realized maybe everything was going to be an EV, which would involve throwing away a lot of brand equity for a random new brand. The company is dropping its EQ branding and the new electric G-Wagen is just the G-Wagen EV. Much cleaner.
Jaguar, just to screw with us, launched an EV called the iPace and a non-EV crossover called the ePace. BMW did better, just adding “i” to everything that was electric, thus giving us the i3, i8, and now i4 and i7.
Toyota, for some reason, is calling its first mass-produced EV in the United States the bZ4X (pronounced Bees Forks by us). Ford is more logical, using its existing brand equity to make the Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and Ford E-Transit. That’s two different ways to do it (appending a name on the back or adding an “e”) but it seems fine.
GM is somewhere in between, having both unique names (Bolt and Lyriq) and doing the trick of just adding “EV” to existing names (Blazer EV, Hummer EV).
If there’s one company that’s been just perplexingly bad at it’s Honda. It’s incredible.
The company started out by selling the little Honda EV Plus here in the United States in a limited run. That’s a good name. EV Plus. It followed it up with the Honda Fit EV, which is another sensible name. Then someone at Honda must have fried their prefrontal cortex plugging in a Fit EV because the company has gone super whacky with names.
The electric-hydrogen fuel cell is the Honda CR-V e:FCEV. The European electric car was called the “Honda e,” but now they sell something called the Honda e:NY1 (pronounced: “ee-en-why-one” — some sources say it stands for Exciting and New for Your 1ife, though I’m not sure I believe that given how ridiculous it is). In China there’s also the e:NP1 and e:NS1. In Japan, there’s the N-Van e: for some reason.
It’s madness. the company is doing a little better in the United States with both the Honda Prologue (a new name for a new product) and the Acura ZDX (an old name for a new product).
Honda, for its part, has figured this out according to this report from Jamie Butters over at Automotive News, who listened to the company explain that it doesn’t yet know what it wants to call its newest Acura EV:
“We must think about this,” said Kazuhiro Takizawa, CEO of American Honda Motor Co. “We still have time, so it’s not fixed yet.”
[…]
In the American market, the pressure on a brand like Honda is even more intense. The company is “still watching” the German brands and trying to learn from their experience, said Executive Vice President Shinji Aoyama.
“I understand the naming of the vehicle is pretty much important,” he said. “And many customers are basically confident” with the existing names of Honda vehicles, “such as Civic, Accord, CR-Vs. But we are also wondering what to do.”
An Electric CR-V by any other name…
Why Infiniti Can’t Beat Lexus
Infiniti has no real identity in this country. It’s a shame. I’m always quietly pulling for Infiniti because I have such a positive and strong sense of its older products, including the FX55, the G35/G37, the original Q, and the original M.
Lately? Eh… the brand’s market share dropped from 7.4% in 2017 to 2.4% last year. Sales have been on a long skid that just barely recovered last year. The company has a new way forward, according to Automotive News:
The QX65 — Infiniti’s answer to the Lexus RX — will ride on the QX60 platform and carry the same upgraded four-cylinder powerplant.
The coupe-like crossover will swap the boxy styling of its three-row sibling, instead getting a sharply raked rear window, protruding shark fin-like taillights and a sporty version of the redesigned QX80’s grille.
The QX65 addresses a market previously served by the Infiniti QX70, helping Infiniti draw new buyers. It has “an aggressive design that won’t appeal to the soccer mom,” Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Steve Lapin told Automotive News early this year.
Infiniti hopes the new model will be a sales engine. Lexus sold more than 96,000 RX crossovers last year.
And herein lies the problem. The QX65 is going to be a coupe-ier, over-stylized version of the QX60. Maybe it’ll look great! I have no reason to believe it won’t. I like Infiniti’s design, and they often surprise people, but underneath, the platforms are rarely competitive anymore. No Infiniti product is the best in its class, including the QX60. The QX65 will also probably not be the best car in its class, or even likely the 2nd or 3rd best.
The huge advantage Lexus has, other than being the established leader, is that underneath a Lexus is a Toyota. Infiniti doesn’t even have to build a better RX, it just has to build a comparable one that also costs a lot less, but there, too, Infiniti hasn’t had the best track record.
Toyota And BMW Reportedly Teaming Up On Fuel Cells
Everyone has their blind spots. Maybe it’s the lottery. Maybe it’s bad bitches. If you’re BMW and Toyota, it’s an undying belief that hydrogen cars are going to happen. [Ed Note: Or maybe the opposite belief is our blind spot, somehow. -DT]
The two automakers will sign a memorandum of understanding on the partnership next week, with an official announcement set for Sept. 5, Nikkei Asia reported.
A Toyota spokesperson said Nikkei’s report is not based on a company announcement, declining to comment further.
Sure.
Everything Is A Car Show Now
I am extraordinarily grateful to be a part of this website, as it has given me the chance to experience a lot of the car world and, hopefully, translate some of that to you. In particular, I’ve been to both Goodwood Festival of Speed (for the first time) and Monterey Car Week (for, uh, the 5th time?) this summer.
What struck me was that both of these events are the places where automakers large and small are launching new cars. Both events were chock full of car reveals, ranging from production BMWs to too many concept Hypercars.
I’m not the only one who noticed. Here’s what S&P Global Mobility has to say about this trend:
The effort to be more interactive is not new for show organizers striving to maintain relevance. The needs to reduce cost and increase share of voice are not new, either. In 2024, however, the continued growth of both Goodwood Festival and Monterey Car Week suggest that the real future may be in smaller, more focused events.
The future is in finding the right platform for the right news, with no single event able to claim it is a “must” in the automaker toolbox for vehicle introductions or for connecting with consumers.
I think that’s true. Traditional car shows still have a place, but it’s not the only place.
What I’m Listening To This Morning While Writing TMD
I’ve been out and Thomas has gracefully stood in for me, but I know you’ve missed what I bring. Specifically, you’ve missed female rockers with guitars. Let’s fix this with my favorite cut (“Never Said”) from Liz Phair’s monumental “Exile in Guyville.”
The Big Question
Who is the best at naming electric cars? [Ed Note: I’d like to add, given that the Mustang Mach-E got so much criticism as a name: Was that ultimately a good call from Ford or do you think it hurt the regular Mustang’s brand equity? -DT].
I read this as “Honda Anyone” and yeah, that car is for anyone else but me.
It’s still an appallingly bad name for a vehicle that has nothing to do with a Mustang. I don’t think it’s hurt the real Mustang so much as become a nothingburger in Mustang discussions. No one who says “Mustang” thinks about that poorly named electric crossover. Again, it doesn’t have anything to do with the Mustang, and most people just call it the “Mach-E.” “Mach-E” would have been a fine name on its own: short, simple, to the point, nods at it being an electric. “Mustang Mach-E” is just word vomit that tells me that Ford has no idea what the hell its own muscle-car coupe is, and no clear vision of the future when it comes to its EVs.
As for best names, oof. I do rather like BMW’s strategy of “like our other names, except not.” It’s straightforward and to the point. The Subaru Solterra is a good name even if the car is a Busy Forks in flannel, but that’s kind of a one-off from them. Who knows how they might mess it up in the future, but I do kind of trust Subaru to at least whip out a name that makes sense. It’s where their efforts go instead of engine design.
There’s a lot of contenders for worst, though. Ford got the F-150 Lightning right (it’s an F-150, but electric!), but failed with the Mach-E. Cadillac’s q-names are pure, unadulterated cringe. The Honda Prologue seems fine, just fine, but what are they even doing globally? Toyota seems to have slammed a keyboard with its token compliance EV and called it a day.
Even Porsche seems…fine. That’s it. Fine. I’ve…Taycan……a liking to Taycan puns, though. No one knows how to pronounce that word, so it works for so many different pun situations!
Infiniti should have fired its designers years ago. They have been polarizingly ugly since the mid 2k’s.
Just call it the “Chevrolet Allthegoodnamesaretaken” and be done with it.
I’ve only ever called the Mach-E the Mustang Mockery, so bad call. Should’ve just named it the Falcon over here and the Taurus or something in AU.
Galax-E. It was right there, staring Ford in the face!
My local dealer just booted Infinity from its stand alone dealership location and swapped it with the tiny Porsche showroom that was shoehorned between a Volvo and JLR combo building.
I just looked at the Infinity website. Wow do their engine options feel ancient.
There was a time when I lusted for a FX35, those days are long gone.
Liz! Good stuff. Share of voice? WTF market speak is this?
Mmmm, Liz Phair, still in her 20’s there. Fuck And Run, in that order back then! 🙂
Maybe that’s what you call it, but I call it the [cue Ben Stein voice] “Anyone, anyone?”
Buehler?
Buehler?
Why can nobody ever spell Bueller correctly smfh
My mind also went straight to Honda Anyone.
Don’t really hate the name because it reminds me of a Hemlocke Springs song I really like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I8kRZppD8k
Naming EVs is not that hard
For example, Buick
ICE model – Regal. EV model – Regal Electra
ICE model – Entourage. EV model – Entourage Electra
ICE model – Wildcat. EV model – Wildcat Electra
Lets do Mercedes-Benz:
ICE model – SL500 (for a 5 liter engine) EV model – SL560e (for a 557hp EV – round up to the nearest ten)
ICE model – E350 (for a 3.5l engine) EV model – E560e (for a 557hp EV)
ICE model – G55 AMG (for a 5.5L engine). EV Model – G750e AMG (for a 745hp EV)
Now for Ford:
ICE model – Explorer Limited EcoBoost AWD. EV model – Explorer Limited Twin E-drive
ICE model – Mondeo SEL 2.0. EV model – Mondeo SEL E-drive
ICE model – Mustang GT. EV model – Mustang GT-E
Toyota?
ICE model – Corolla LE. EV model – Corolla L-EV
ICE model – RAV4 AWD. EV model – RAV4 AllTrac E
ICE model – Highlander Limited AWD. EV Model – Highlander Limited AllTrac E
Ford has introduced both Explorer and Capri as ev’s in the EU market (at least). Built on Vag MEB-platform, so a variation of the ID4/5, apparently down to capacitive buttons on steering wheel, Grrr… So, the Mustang Mach-E debacle all over again regarding the Capri.. and they are simultanously selling the US Explorer PHEV version. Two wildly different Eplorers at the same time.
Not sure what to think of it. Refreshingly simple names, or cynical recycling?
More like a simple lack of creative thought.
I like how GM is keeping it simple for some of the model just changing the letter E to blue vs their regular gas models. But they are still not working well in the marketing side because I had so many questions about the Blazer EV thinking it was from another brand. I just tell people it’s the new blazer but electric.
The Mach-E seems like a nice enough electric car; as someone who’s not really in the market for something like that, I’m not sure why they gave it the Mustang name other than for marketing purposes. And when you’re around people who know absolutely nothing about electric cars, it’s much quicker to point to one and say “electric Mustang!” than it is to say “Mach-E!” and then have to explain what you just said.
And add me to the list of people wondering why Ford hasn’t produced an electric Galaxie yet.
Galax-E
Wall-E
GalaxiE would have been better than the Mock-Ery
The Honda Prologue is great because every time we see an ad my English professor boyfriend gets incredibly angry.
I can just say “Honda Prologue” and he’ll immediately go “IT’S SO STUPID.”
I still mentally call the Mustang Mach-E “Mach-E Mach and the Funky Bunch” because I’m 12.
I like regular names, think GMs doing the better out of them, Volt, Bolt, now just adding EV to the ‘comparable’ model of the same name.
Which is better than Ford with the Mach-E, but I guess Escape-E would’ve been worse? Maybe E-scape? “Is that an es-scape? No it’s an E-scape!”
Toyota with their Beyond Zero name was dumb, nobody knows it’s beyond zero 4x, or even what beyond zero means, is that 1? 1 is beyond zero. For it’s looks and size could just call it the RAV-E, and that would’ve probably been so much better.
Also Tesla with their S3XY names, at least we understand the logic(or adolescent humor), compared to Mercedes and Infinitis, and sadly Cadillacs, with alphabet soup and they have whole teams of people in marketing.
But with Tesla they are all electric so there is no confusion.
The problem with the Volt and Bolt is that it’s so hard to distinguish between them in spoken conversation. I suspect that caused real confusion and I can’t help wondering if it contributed to the very unfortunate death of the Volt.
I think Volt and Bolt are good names, but I was very confused about which is which for a long time. It’s not as bad as the Jaguar things, but confusing nonetheless.
And remember that the Transformers character, who transforms into a Volt and was added to Revenge of the Fallen at the last moment, is named Jolt.
Yeah I think they definitely didn’t have it planned out long term, think they used Volt, and then said oh hey let’s make a full EV, and just went with Bolt. Think it’d have been better if they had like the Cruze-Eco for the Volt and then the Bolt called the Volt.
I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to figure out how to denote EV, but seeing how most OEMs seem to have forgotten how to name things, I guess that explains it. With that long-running industry trend of poor naming conventions, thinking too hard is probably the wrong move for them, so [Model name] EV, the same way most drivetrain differences were called out in the past or i was used to distinguish fuel injection from carbed. Maybe for someone like Honda with their Type Xs, they could use Type-E or Type-EV (if Jaguar objects), but while that might work for models with ICE and EV drivetrains, it seems odd for standalone EV only models and I would think they’d want some consistency, especially with established names (or the rare alpha numeric hogwash that people actually remember).
This wasn’t a problem with the early ICE-based compliance conversions. e-Golf, 500e, RAV4 EV, Focus Electric. Those are all fine. The problem is when all the legacy automakers realized that they needed dedicated EV platforms, but weren’t 100% willing to just make the next generation of their bread and butter car an EV. So there are silly whitespace names for silly whitespace cars. Why is an Ariya just not the next-gen Rogue? Why is the EU Explorer EV a completely different car than the EU Explorer PHEV? Can’t an ID.3 just be a Golf?
I’m reminded of a couple entries on David Letterman’s Top 10 Rejected Car Names list:
The Hyundai Accordion and the Ford Gelding.
Speaking of dumb names, Infiniti is a really dumb name. The worst part is, the entire purpose of Infiniti was to bring over the Prince products; you’re Cedric/Fuga and what not to America. Should of just called the thing Prince- it was right there! Anyways, since Nissan got invaded by the French, they stopped producing all the cool JDM Prince stuff. There’s just nothing left for Infiniti to really pull from except Skyline and the Skyline Crossover. Which instead of Q(insert random number)- Just call it a Skyline. Some hooptieass GTT R34 goes for like 50k now. The only person not making money off the Skyline name is Nissan. Just put a big-ass wing on the back of the Q60 400 Red Sport (Got what a stupid name), throw some ground effects and some GTR clone wheels- boom, slap a GTR badge on it. You’ll sell a few, which they ain’t doing now. And drive some interest to Infiniti and it cost you nothing.
If only it were just the name that was the issue – and not the underlying products.
You spell GO Geo!