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].
When I think of the bonuses some execs are going to get for the BMW-Toyota MOU that will almost certainly provide zero value to either company … sigh.
Time for Toyota and BMW to see the light here. Fuel Cell? Not a realistic thing, at least yet.
I still consider the Mustang Mach-E to be the undisputed champion of stupid automotive names. This car has nothing in common with the ICE Mustang. You can’t unmediocre a family-oriented electric CUV by giving it the name of a sports car. I’m not a Mustang fan so I’m not upset at diminished brand equity, but this was a very cynical attempt by Ford. Shame.
While I dislike the “Mustang” name, I hate the “Mach-E” even more. I think I have ranted about this before, but Mach has a definition. It is not a fun sounding meaningless word that can be used purely for aesthetic purposes. Mach refers to a number. If the “E” is either the letter itself with no meaning or shorthand for “electric”, the name is fundamentally absurd. The other option is that the “E” is referring to the mathematical constant. It would still be a stupid name, but I would at least respect a car called the Ford Mustang Mach-2.7182818284590452353602874713527.
As for who has done the best job naming electric cars, that title goes to Polestar. If you can’t come up with a good name (which appears to be the case across all EV manufacturers) at least keep it simple.
Okay. But “Mustang” also has a definition. It’s a wild horse that lives in the western US. Many car names are actual words that have definitions. Not sure that’s a reason to exclude them from the car-naming process.
I’m not objecting to the use of a word with a definition per se. I see Mach-E as the equivalent of calling a car the Mustang Fencepost or Mustang Cloud. Those words don’t go together in a way that makes any logical sense!
I’m just saying that, if you are going to use a technical term in a car name, at least use it in a way that isn’t ridiculous.
What do you expect from a bunch of midwestern duck hunters who, just a few years ago, introduced the facelifted Lincoln MKS and MK-Minivan (whatever that thing was called) throwing around the word “Bespoke” while wearing Jos Banks off the rack suits that didn’t even have their pants legs hemmed the correct length…
It’s a
mock, sorry, mach Mustang. The Mustang Mocky.I think you might be on to something. The name finally makes sense. Someone clearly misspelled Mock Mustang and added the E since it is electric.
“You can’t unmediocre a family-oriented electric CUV by giving it the name of a sports car. “
While I agree with you on the name of the vehicle being an odd choice by Ford, I would urge you to take one for a test drive if you’ve never driven one. Even if an EV isn’t your thing, give it a drive before dismissing it.
I haven’t had the opportunity to drive a Mach-E, but I think I would actually like driving it. I am a big EV fan – I currently own a Model 3 and have previously owned a Leaf and a Livewire. I’m sure the performance of the Mach-E is more than adequate.
My primary object to the Mach E is that it is a CUV. I acknowledge CUVs/small SUVs have a lot of advantages over sedans, but I think they are ugly. The proportions look awkward, and no manufacturer has been able to make one that looks right. If the Mach-E was a sedan or coupe, I probably would like it. I dislike it in its current form, though.
One is the loneliest number
I find it interesting that, Hyundai/Kia excluded, the players in the NA market who have made the most compelling EVs are the domestic automakers. They don’t have the traction in the hybrid space that Toyota does, but GM Ford and Tesla are making EVs that are well tailored to the US market.
As for Infiniti, they have had too many changes at the top, and unless Carlos Ghosn pops out of his bass fiddle case to save the day, their time will be very finite.
Just name your EV Bob! or Steve! they are the ultimate “default” name when you can’t find something better.
My Tarantulas name is Steve and the Tarantula before him was also named Steve same with the one before that one. Me naming them Steve is a reference to the game Deep Rock Galactic though haha
Cool.
We are now on our 3rd dog named Ralph.
Every time in my life that I’ve had fish for pets one of them has been named Bob.
bob@aol.com
Instead of Steve, can we use Peter? My ears don’t need more false alarms.
Bob worked so well for Microsoft.
I do not know why Zapper has not been used…
It was trademarked by VW in case they decide to make a new Beetle in EV. The model will be called the VW Bug Zapper.
I always liked VW’s April Fool’s joke about changing their name to Voltswagen- unrealistic but so perfect and I love it
I think it will always be called a Mach-E and not a Mustang, which is fine with me. I like both.
And that Liz Phair album is one of the best things to come out of the 90s.
My family always had Japanese and German cars growing up, so while of course I knew what Mustang was, I have zero nostalgia or brand respect for any of the US makes and nameplates.
I bought a Mach-E not because they called it a Mustang, but because it’s a really good EV. They could have called it an “Edge EV” and I still would have bought one. It doesn’t change the fact I still think of a V8 muscle coupe when I think “Mustang”.
I do like the coupe-inspired looks like the taillights, general front grill styling, and neat two-tone paint trick that makes the rear appear to be more of a coupe fastback than it actually is. That said, I didn’t buy it because it’s a Mustang, I bought it because it’s just a great car for what I needed.
When people unfamiliar with it ask what it is, I call it a Mach-E. I had a Mustang owner ask about the power and acceleration, and when I told him he said “hell, that’s faster than my V8 Mustang, they can absolutely call it a Mustang with those specs!”
Beyond that, nobody except internet trolls really seem to care anymore.
Hard to beat Chevy on the naming front, even if they aren’t consistent. Either you get an electric sounding name (Volt, Bolt), a regular name with EV tacked on (Equinox EV, Silverado EV), or you get an electric twist on an existing name (E-Ray).
I suppose GMC is in the same boat with the Sierra EV. It will be interesting to see how confusing it will be when Buick introduces a bunch of new Electras.
They deserve credit for not creating a Chevy BEVy.
They deserve
creditcontempt for not creating a Chevy BEVy.FIFY.
Maybe small electric pickup, Chevy LEV.
> Either you get an electric sounding name (Volt, Bolt), a regular name with EV tacked on (Equinox EV, Silverado EV)
Or both; Spark EV
Toyota, if you’re reading this, the bZ4x isn’t selling poorly because its a bad name, it’s just a bad product. The name doesn’t help though. You literally made 2 generations of Rav4 EV. Just do it again.
When your newly-released car in 2023 has a damn lugnut recall, you know your product isn’t very good.
It will always be busy forks to me, not bees forks
I have never heard anyone in real life call it a “Mustang Mach-E”. It’s always the “Mach-E” or “That electric Ford”. If Ford had just done that out of the gate, I think they might have been able to sidestep a lot of the hubbub from the reactionary “It’s not a Mustang!” front.
I generally agree with WasGTIthen… about just naming it the “CarModel EV” if it’s that model, but with an electric drivetrain, and coming up with a normal name in line with the brand’s history if it’s a distinct model, maybe with “EV” appended to it, just so people know.
Avoid the “i”, “e” and letter and random punctuation unpronounceable soup.
CR-EV
HR-EV
CiEVic
RidgEVline
ProloguEV
EVccord
The answers are right in front of you, people!
The first two are nice. They look good and make sense. The fourth and fifth, maybe could work once they’re familiar.
The third and last…are indigestion- and nausea-inducing.
Damn, I should have put them in progressively more deranged order!
I think I hate CiEVic most of all myself, though the hard consonant butted up against the v in EVccord is pretty rough
Isn’t an EVccord what you use to plug it in?
All the Hondas should be Type-EV, all the Acuras would be E-Spec
Infiniti has no brand cache left. The space they used to inhabit was taken by Genesis. For years they were an intriguing upstart that was trying some unique and interesting things. Unfortunately Ghosn happened and Nissan was driven to the brink of extinction. This took what little money they had to invest away from Infiniti and the brand got saddled with several of Nissan’s horrid engineering decisions in the process.
While the point that they don’t have Toyota/Lexus reliability is a valid one, they’re also laughably behind on powertrains. Their unibody crossovers all have goddamn CVTs and Nissan’s disastrous VC Turbo technology…aka economy car powertrains. Who in their right mind would pick that over the myriad hybrid options Lexus offers or the power and refinement of the German engines?
Hell in the QX60 you still had a VQ until this model year. Imagine choosing that over a B58. It’s lunacy. Their one sedan that’s finally been put out of its misery wasn’t competitive when it was introduced 10 years ago. It’s embarrassingly dated today with the double screen setup, weird steer by wire shit, and of course the dated powertrains. Why would anyone choose a new Q50 over a 3 series, IS, etc?
Anyway the new massive abomination QX whatever isn’t going to help. The badge holds no weight anymore. If you’re the type of person who’s dropping 100 grand on an SUV you want to be noticed. The Escalade is right there, multiple Range Rovers are right there, the base X7 actually undercuts it price wise, etc. Who is it for at this point?
Add in the Big Altima Energy and Nissan’s famous if you’ve got a pulse you’ve got a car financing and Infiniti is a dead brand walking. I see as many Infinitis rolling around on donut spares doing 100 on the shoulder as I do Nissans at this point. I’ll never forget when my wife asked me what the deal with Infiniti was a few years ago. I said “they’re a luxury brand” and she laughed and said “I always assumed they were on par with Hyundai and Kia”.
I told her we could look at a QX60 for her since the deals are so good and she said she’d rather have a Toyota Highlander or Hyundai Santa Fe. That’s where Infiniti is in the normie psyche right now…
Infiniti has no brand cachet either.
Sorry – malapropisms, when not used ironically, are a trigger for me.
Carry on.
Name them “whatever car the brand already sells EV” and call it a day. Auto makers have spent decades building up model identities, why not just cash in on that? If the vehicle is just a EV version of a Tucson, call it the Tucson EV. Simple. Everyone know how big it is and what role it’s supposed to fill. Making up new names is a waste of time.
Agreed, and eventually, you can just drop the EV once non-ev’s no longer exist. Again, we’ll get over it.
Yup this is what I agree with why I am glad Chevy is just going blazer EV, Equinox EV and so on much easier to understand what ever the hell Toyota did with the letters and numbers slapped together or what ever weird stuff the Europeans do. Also the Mach E really should have been called something like *insert Ford cross over name here* EV.
Thundercougarfalconbird?
-EV
One of these days, I want David Tracy to take over TMD, and I want know what he’s listening to while he does so. We’ve got a pretty good idea what most of the others are listening to, but DT, with his seeming complete unawareness of pop culture, is an enigma.
What DOES DT listen to? Anyone?
I can only assume DT listens to audio versions of Haynes manuals
Rusted Root.
Probably just the “M.A.S.H.” theme song on repeat. Also, Hasslehoff. Lots of Hasslehoff.
An 8 hour loop of grinders and wire brushes on rusted Jeep steel probably.
Or just ASMR of rust forming and an automatic aromatherapy machine dispensing mini spritzes of PB Blaster.
Megadeth- Rust In Peace
Nine Inch (Rusty) Nails
I don’t think it truly hurt them, but the inconsistent naming isn’t super helpful. If they would just append Lightning to models, people can get used to that being the electric nameplate.
Kia’s EV[Number] and Hyundai’s Ioniq [number] are very clear about the electric part, but don’t necessarily convey much about the actual vehicle.
Chevy has a pretty good system: [Model] EV. It is clear on all fronts and allows them to use nameplates that people recognize. Whether they should have used Avalanche instead of Silverado is a fair question, but at least they’re identifiable as EVs and use known names.
Who? Not Honda or Toyota, for sursies. Things should have a name, or, if not, a logical acronym. There are too many options out there. We don’t need legacy. OR, just move on and call the new electric Accord an Accord. We’ll get over it.
Mach-E didn’t hurt the Mustang any, it hurt the Mach-E.
Ford seemingly didn’t have the confidence in what turned out to be a good all-around EV for everyone (not just the well off), so it appropriated unneeded Mustang street cred just in case. Which deprived Ford of the chance to start an entirely new line of EVs that could have shaken things up in the segment much the same way that the Taurus did in the ’80s design-wise.
Also, Galaxie/Galaxy would have been a better name.
I will never understand the Mach E and going with an EV that uses the Mustang name. Stupid decision. Now the F-150 Lightning is a great name to me.
It sounds like an espresso drink: it’s the Mach-E auto.
Ford has soooooo many good names in their catalogue that would work great as EV’s: Thunderbolt, Thunderbird, Lightning, Galaxie, Probe, Tempo, Granada, Cougar, Falcon, Thundercougarfalconbird, etc…
Bonus points for the Futurama reference.
Even Fusion works!
No, no, no, the Thundercougarfalconbird was a convertible, silly!
+1 for Futurama
What about the Mongoose? That’s a cool name: the Fighting Mongoose.
I have no strong feelings one way or the other one these names.
All the names are pretty ique.
F150 Lightning is the only good EV name.
Everything else is generic and/or silly.
I’d argue that Tesla is a creative name for an EV company as well. Too bad a certain somebody ruined it…
Oh I agree as far as company names go, but I was referring only to model names.
Welcome back Matt. Liz Phair – yes you have a type.
Ford naming their electric crossover the Mustang Mach E was a marketing masterstroke. Sure people hated it, but everyone was talking about it. If you were in the target market you were definitely aware that Ford had a mid size electric crossover, and looking a little closer could see it was actually reasonably competitive in it’s class. Sure there may have been a small number of people who were actually so upset by the name they didn’t buy it when the otherwise would’ve. I’m willing to wager that number is small enough to not have meant anything.
To me, at this point, you could fully drop the Mustang moniker and no one would care, and you could take it back to what it was. It did it’s job, and it’s no longer needed.
You’re possibily right, but this is the 1st time I’ve thought about the IPace in a long time, yet I regularly see people beating the dead horse of the Mustang Mach E (pun intended) . I wouldn’t say I like the name, just that it has kept it relevant. I’d say the same thing about Chevy using the Blazer name on a vehicle that is otherwise forgettable.
Blazer takes on a new meaning when the battery catches fire.
Naming cars is easy
Electric, put a -E at the end of the name.
Hybrid, put a -H.
Hydrogen, put a -Hi.
Done.
Yeah, just treat it like you would treat any other powertrain option, car model name + TDI/5.0/Turbo/EV etc. And, if the car is exclusively an electric car and doesn’t come in any other powertrain versions, then you don’t need to do anything, just give it a decent name (not BZ4X or HBJ6474Y). GM screws this up with the GMC HUMMER EV, why does it need “EV” in the name? All GMC HUMMERs are electric, they’re all EVs, there’s no non-EV version to distinguish it from
The suffixes are just temporary untill the transition is done.