Renewable Gossip

As the Bard might have put it, “That which we call an all-electric emissions-free vehicle, by any other name would drive as sweet.”

To gain mainstream acceptance by mainstream car buyers, electric cars will face all kinds of real economic and technical challenges—such as limited driving range, hefty price premiums, and lack of charging stations. But a car company’s first task in marketing an electric car or plug-in hybrid is coming up with a name that gives a sense of a bold new step in automotive technology, yet one that is not too strange or off-putting.

EV-makers have shown mixed results based on a review of the upcoming crop of electric-drive vehicles.

Smart ED

When the folks from Daimler decided to add an electric drive to the diminutive Smart ForTwo, it was only too obvious to take the term “Electric Drive” and tack it on the end of the car’s name with the acronym, “E.D.” That was an unfortunate choice in the age of Viagra, especially for a wee car lacking a high horsepower engine. Daimler started production of the first 1,000 units in France last month, but hopefully the marketing guys in Stuttgart will man up to the oversight, and switch the name to “Smart EV” before bringing the car to the United States.

Nissan Leaf

Sure, it’s a nice play on words for a car to help the world “turn over a new leaf” when it comes to cars, energy, and the environment. Of course, the leaf is one of nature’s ways of replenishing the air with fresh oxygen. But do high-tech early adopters really want to be driving…a Leaf? And what’s the plural, “Nissan Leaves?”

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