Ford continues feud with Tesla with upcoming Model E

Ford already ruined a bit of Elon Musk’s fun when they took the trademark for the Model E, foiling Elon’s master plan to have the Model S, Model X and Model E spell out SEX. But he got over it. Tesla instead released their $35,000 EV as the Model 3, and Elon made sure that 3 logo looked like an E as much as possible.

Except now Ford isn’t just going after Elon’s sex jokes, they’re going after his market share too!

As it turns out Ford wasn’t just laying claim to the ‘Model E’ just to mess with Elon; they actually wanted to use it as the name of a future EV. Ford’s upcoming ‘Model E’ EV will be
jumping into the ring with Tesla’s Model 3 and GM’s Chevy Bolt. Both of those vehicles should be coming sometime around 2017 along with 200+ miles of range and a sub-40k price tag. What’s Ford’s 2017 EV Contender? A measly 100 mile range electric Focus.

So Ford developing a Model E makes perfect sense if they want any chance at competing with Tesla’s cost and range.

Tesla made it clear they wanted as many EVs on the road as possible when they released their patents 2 years ago. Ford also made it clear they aren’t afraid of learning from Tesla when they paid $199,950 for the first Model X just so they could dissect it. But can Elon handle Ford taking their innovations and using them on his lost nameplate? 

We’ll have to see if Ford has any shot of upstaging Tesla’s Model 3 when we get closer to an actual production date. In the mean time, the Blue Oval will be investing a hefty $4.5 billion to add 13 EVs to their lineup by 2020. We wonder how much of that cost will be devoted to dissecting future Tesla’s.

Personally, we’d like to see Tesla and Ford end this feud and make a Model F-150 together, but it looks like that will continue to just be wishful thinking.

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What do you think of Ford’s plans to enter the EV game? Do they really have a chance against Tesla’s electrified surge in the industry that has captivated the public? Let us know in the comments below.