Ka-Chow: Ford trademarks ‘Lightning’ for Ranger, Maverick in Europe

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Blue Oval fans who find the all-electric F-150 Lightning appealing but are looking for a smaller pickup truck may be in for a treat. Gumshoes at an outlet south of the border have discovered Ford trademark filings in Europe for the terms ‘Ranger Lightning’ and ‘Maverick Lightning’. Blue Oval suits apparently completed paperwork for these names with the European Union Intellectual Property Office just yesterday.

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Ka-Chow: Ford trademarks ‘Lightning’ for Ranger, Maverick in Europe Back to video

This shouldn’t be entirely a surprise. After all, head honcho Jim Farley has never made it a secret he wants Ford to be “the leader in electric pickup trucks,” suggesting the company will eventually have a full roster of the things across several size categories. These patent filing suggest their work is well underway.

To be clear, however, car companies regularly trademark words and phrases and never use them. Sometimes this is done to prevent competitive brands from getting their hands on a particular name; on other occasions it’s for a concept which never makes it out of the development stage. It’s also not lost on us that these are European filings. Still, we’re willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt since most automakers are working feverishly on electrifying their fleets.

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While an argument could be made that these names could be applied to hybridized versions of the Ranger and Maverick, we’ll remind readers that Ford has plowed several cubic acres of cash into promoting the Lightning as an all-electric trim of its F-150; to do anything different with other models would only serve to muddy the marketing waters. Besides, Maverick already has a hybrid powertrain, available on certain trims with front-wheel-drive guts.

Engineers at car companies have made great strides with EVs in terms of range and charging times, though the unique way in which some North Americans use their trucks (read: for actual work) is presenting new challenges. Still, with decrees from Daddy Government breathing down the necks of automakers, you can be sure there’s no shortage of research and development being spent on the issue.