Ford Christens EV Unit As Model e — A Name Elon Musk Was After For Tesla Sedan In 2014

Ford Motor Co F on Wednesday revealed plans to use Model e as the name of its electric vehicle unit, eight years after the legacy automaker cut short Tesla Inc’s TSLA move to use the same name for its now best-selling Model 3 electric sedan.

What Happened: Tesla CEO Elon Musk had in 2014 revealed that Ford had threatened to sue the EV maker over the Model E trademark, which forced it to work on a turnaround.

Model 3, originally stylized as "Model ☰", was first revealed on Musk's Twitter account in July 2014 and first rolled out of factories in July 2017.

Musk ultimately named the Telsa electric sedan Model 3, where ‘3’ is ‘E’ read backward. He had initially wanted the three Tesla models in existence at the time to spell SEX but replaced E with 3 after Ford’s copyright threat. 

Tesla now has a fourth model on sale. Including the Model Y, the models spell S3XY.

Why It Matters: The Dearborn, Michigan-based company on Wednesday split its electric vehicle and the internal combustion businesses as it looks to boost profit margins and improve operational efficiency.

Ford has named its electric vehicle unit Model e while the gas-powered variant is named Ford Blue.

See Also: Ford CEO Jim Farley Says Automaker Will Double EV Production By 2023, Aims To Become Largest Electric Player Soon

The automaker expects EVs to account for 30% of its global sales within five years and a half by 2030. The company also said it now plans to spend a total of $50 billion by 2026 towards electric vehicles, $20 billion more than previously announced.

Price Action: Ford shares closed 4.9% lower at $16.7 a share on Tuesday.

Photo: Courtesy of Ford