Last week, we told you how Mercedes-Benz planned to go the BMW route and turn its looming roster of electric vehicles into a sub-brand.
All the automaker needed was a name to slap on its gas-free offerings. Well, according to UK trademark application filings first reported by Autocar, the new sub-brand’s name is…
EQ.
Sounds smart and classy all at once, doesn’t it? And we totally guessed the first half of it. Clearly, “GQ” was already taken, and as for “iQ,” well, someone already destroyed picked that name. So, the first EQ-badged EVs will go up against BMW’s i sub-brand sometime in the foreseeable future. Mercedes-Benz also has Tesla in its sights.
Sources recently told Bloomberg that four vehicles — two sedans and two SUVs — will carry the badge, but the trademarks suggest several more. In the past month, Mercedes-Benz filed applications for EQA, EQC, EQE, EQG and EQS, as well as EQ Inside, EQ Boost and Generation EQ.
That’s a lot of EQs. Looking at the first five names, it’s easy to guess what models will see electric variants. The EQ Boost name is probably reserved for plug-in hybrid versions of existing models, similar to BMW’s iPerformance badging.
The Bloomberg report claims that the EQ sub-brand will be in place, with at least four models on sale, by the end of the decade. Autocar claims we’ll likely see Mercedes-Benz unveil an electric SUV concept at the Paris Auto Show at the end of September.
Those letter combinations all sound like accounting metrics. “We need to get the quarterly EQE ready for STAT.”
And whoever was in charge of maintaining that car at the show should be fired, as it’s got tons of dust on it.
“as it’s got tons of dust on it.”
Well, it *electric* after all.
I would have preferred the Mercedes Shamalamadingdong instead of EQ. It just sounds so… generic…
“That Shamalamadingdong needs a good Swiffering.”
You’re right! Much better.
No, no, it was supposed to be ME2!
“sub-brand will be in place”
Brilliant! Worked great for Scion, SRT, and Geo (one might argue Saturn was a sub brand for a time).
Infiniti must be fuming.
Infiniti as well as Audi.
I see all these electric/hybrid sub-brands as being incredibly short lived as the technology will quickly be integrated in the existing portfolios.
BMW is already talking about blurring the lines between the two.
When they said it was going to be a sub brand, I assumed it meant it would be “Mercedes-_____”, like Mercedes-Benz is their normal cars, Mercedes-AMG is performance, Mercedes-Maybach is super fancy, etc. The trademarks look more like it’ll just be Mercedes-Benz EQZ or whatever.
NOW we know why Saint Musk is building the Gigafactory: to sell batteries to all the other automobile manufacturers.
Except that they’re all collaborating with other companies to build their own battery factories.
http://fortune.com/2016/03/01/daimler-new-battery-factory/
Ha ha… no hydraulic despotism for Elon. Nice try.
Some others:
http://cleantechnica.com/2016/06/01/volkswagen-considering-11-billion-battery-factory-germany/
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2015/06/hollands_lg_chem_lands_new_adv.html (Gm partnering with LG chem)
http://www.hybridcars.com/jaguar-land-rover-talking-to-ford-and-bmw-about-opening-battery-plant/
Thanks for the info. None seem to be on the scale of the GF, though, and VW is only ‘considering.’
VW is building one; they’re just debating between Germany and China, if you look at more news articles.
Ugh, names are so 1999!
BAD names are so 2017. You’d expect more from the Germans, who turned ‘fuel injection’ into “kraftstoffeinspritzung”.
EQ is commonly used in the military for Enlisted Quarters.
Also:
(Psychology) emotional quotient, a (notional) measure of a person’s adequacy in such areas as self-awareness, empathy, and dealing sensitively with other people
I’m sure electric Mercedes buyers will be very empathetic and sensitive people (guffaw, chortle).
Mercedes is missing the point that so many of their buyers in the US are just paying extra for the perceived prestige and exclusivity of the Mercedes logo. Saving money on fuel isn’t even on their radar.
So by eliminating the Mercedes badge, they are eliminating most of their potential customers. Who wants an EQ? Probably almost no one.
It’s a “sub brand”. It will still have the three-pointed star on the grille.
And that will be its main selling point, maybe its ONLY selling point. Thank goodness the environmentally aware wealthy are getting so many choices! The plebes will have choices too – several turbo 3-cylinder econoboxes to choose from.
Everyone will have to build a large number of electric cars soon to meet regulations. That’s the why. The reason behind the sub brand is to distinguish between the electrics and normal vehicles. When you pay crazy money for an electric car, it’s worthless unless you can announce to the world that it is electric. They are going after the Tesla buyer. The Mercedes likely won’t include Tesla’s standard squeaks and rattles however.
If you’re making compliance cars, you’re not going after Tesla.
WaWa is my favorite sub brand.
Can I get a graphic equalizer in my EQ, so I can adjust the bass on the EQ in my EQ?
Yes, gesture controls will be standard. Just wave your hands around for a few minutes before driving off.
Just checked in to make sure someone said equalizer. Thank you.
EQ. EEK.
Right up there with TRD, which is just one ‘u’ short of a turd.
Reminds me of listening to ‘Bob and Tom’ back in the 1980s when they were still local in Indianapolis. They reviewed the album/band ‘GTR’ – their review: SHT