The automotive press is practically aflame with rumors that Ford is replacing its Ford Escape crossover SUV with an electric version, also to be named Escape. That has raised quite a ripple across the esoteric field of car-naming. Normally when a model retires, so does the name. The US auto industry is littered with has-beens, wanna-beโs, never-was, and just plain exhausted cars that retired along with their names. Hmmmโฆ.perhaps Ford is sending a not so subtle signal about the future of EV sales in the USโฆ
๐ The Core Development
By now, everyone knows that EV sales cratered last fall, after US President Donald Trump and his Republican majority in Congress engineered the โOBBAโ tax bill to eliminate federal tax credits for EVs.
Still, EV sales did not actually stop in their tracks, let alone reverse course. A fresh wave of off-lease, used EVs helped keep the momentum up earlier this year, and some automakers (looking at you, Subaru ) stayed on track with plans for new EVs in the US.
๐ Background & Sector Context
Plug-in hybrids also factored in as a sort of gateway drug, with Audi CEO Gernot Dรถllner among those looking forward to strong EV sales in that category.
EV stakeholders must smell blood in the water as Election Day 2026 approaches. With polls indicating that Trump will lose his chokehold on federal EV policy, news about EVs has been tumbling through the Intertubes over the past several weeks. Among the examples, Slate Auto opened its first showroom in Chicago, and General Motors unveiled its gen-4 EV platform .
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
Somewhat bizarrely, the Trump administration also contributed to the news cycle with the launch of the new โBattManโ battery collaboration earlier this week. Under the umbrella of the US Department of Energy, BattMan hooks up federal laboratories with academic and private sector partners to push the envelope on next-gen batteries for transportation applications as well as stationary energy storage.
Benchmark Telemetry & EV Fuel Savings
Put top supercars and EVs to the test in The Pit Stop Lab โ launch head-to-head 1/4-mile drag strip battles & compute EPA electric fuel cost savings.
โก Prefer Visual Stories on Mobile?
Experience this news piece in an interactive 5-slide visual format crafted for mobile devices & Google Discover.
๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Of course, Tesla also weighed in with its โflying carโ stunt , but that was just a stunt. Over in the world of street legal EVs, Ford has been working the publicity machine to gin up interest in the forthcoming Fathom all-electric pickup truck , which is on track for volume production early next year at an MSRP starting at the affordability benchmark of $28,350 with a built-in inverter that cuts the cost of bidirectional charging , too.
The Fathom illustrates how much blood, sweat, and tears go into naming a new car. Itโs a mid-sized pickup like the popular Maverick, but Ford went off in a new direction with the Fathom , considering hundreds of options over a months-long naming journey before settling on a maritime-adjacent reference to deep understanding.
