Tesla Motors Inc , the electric car maker led by billionaire Elon Musk, has filed an application to trademark the “Model E” name to potentially use on future automobiles, clothing and repair service.<\/p>\n
The name is in keeping with Tesla’s style. The automaker now sells an electric sedan called the Model S and next year, it will launch the Model X crossover.<\/p>\n
Musk’s branding strategy is a nod to the Model T, which became the first vehicle middle-class Americans could afford when Ford Motor Co introduced it in 1908.<\/p>\n
Tesla spokeswoman Shanna Hendriks declined to comment on whether the name would be used for the company’s third-generation electric car, which Musk has said would be introduced by 2017.<\/p>\n
The automaker filed the application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on August 5. It is not pending. The trademark filing was first reported by the website VentureBeat.<\/p>\n
The automaker’s third-generation model is expected to cost between $30,000 and $35,000, or about half the price of a Model S, which starts around $70,000 before a federal tax credit.<\/p>\n
Tesla shares have more than quadrupled this year as Model S sales surpassed expectations. The company said on Monday that the car had received the “best safety rating of any car ever tested.<\/p>\n
Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed the Model S achieved the best overall safety score of any vehicle tested for model years 2011 to 2014.<\/p>\n
NHTSA made the testing procedures tougher for the 2011 model year and has not retested models built for the 1990 to 2011 years under the new standards.<\/p>\n
Clarence Ditlow, executive director for the Center for Auto Safety, said he would “fall out of his chair if a pre-2011 model did better” than the Model S.<\/p>\n
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