Who Names Electric Cars?

Carmakers are racing to electrify their product lines at a pace not seen in decades. Battery-powered driving offers a cleaner, quieter, and eventually cheaper way to travel – an aspirational trifecta that branding squads must distill into a slew of catchy new car names. That’s a tricky task.

The opportunity to name a new vehicle is a precious, billion-dollar branding exercise with decades of potential staying power. But something about the current industry shift has emboldened marketing departments’ worst impulses. As a result, names for EVs have become incredibly clunky and contrived.

There are some excellent examples: The Nissan LEAF is an organic name that reflects its green purpose; the Kia EV6 is simple and memorable; the Volkswagen ID. The family includes a range of sensible options, including the e-tron and e-tron GT. But there are also the names that metastasize, tacking on letters or becoming less clear as variants proliferate. For example, Audi’s seminal EV launched as the “e-tron,” but now it has an alphabet salad of e-tron, EQS, EQA, EQB, and EQE models. Mercedes-Benz made a similar hash of it: Its electric cars now include the EQS, EQB, and EQE SUVs, plus the EQS sedan and EQC coupe.

Ford has gotten the most out of the big three domestic automakers: Its Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning pickup are popular. But the Blue Oval still has some work, including shoring up its manufacturing capability to make millions of EVs in the years ahead.

Across the world, automakers are pushing hard on electric vehicles, too. For example, China is expected to produce 40 million EVs in 2025. That’s more than double what it sold last year.

The global shift to EVs has created plenty of jobs, too. The battery-car manufacturing sector employs some 140,000 workers, which is growing fast. By 2040, it will be up to 550,000, according to a recent report from the consulting firm IHS Markit.

Even as the EV industry booms, conventional automakers sell many gas-powered cars and trucks. IHS Markit expects sales of new-generation traditional vehicles to peak around 2025, with a slow dwindle as electrified alternatives replace them. IHS says the EV industry is set to grow by almost another 50 percent in the next decade to a staggering 7.7 million vehicles. The market for EVs has been so hot that it’s been tough to find enough battery cells to keep up. But automakers are betting that the demand will outpace supply and prices will fall as volumes rise. That’s why they’re spending so much on development and braking production plans for many of their existing vehicles to free up money to make room for the electric future. That’s a good thing for consumers, but it might take some time before the industry gets to where it needs to be.