When you look at General Motors‘ organizational chart, you’ll see that Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac have already announced or even delivered a few vehicles based on the Ultium platform, but Buick’s strategy – at least in North America – remains unclear. It’s clear that the three-shielded division will have an electric SUV lineup before long, but as we head into 2022, no one knows where Buick is headed.
There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, however, as the GM Authority website discovered that General Motors has applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reserve no less than nine names for future vehicles.
And, not surprisingly, Buick decided to dig into its past for this purely electric offensive, and the name they chose could not be more logical: Electra.
In fact, Buick has reserved the following names: Electra E1, Electra E2, Electra E3, Electra E4, and so on until Electra E9). Let’s remember that the Electra name was used on a Buick vehicle from 1959 until 1990 when the manufacturer put an end to this line of comfortable cars. It wasn’t until 2020 when Buick unveiled the Electra concept, a coupe-like SUV with very futuristic lines, that GM pulled the name out of the idea bin again.
This year, Buick unveiled the Electra-X concept in China, a concept that is definitely closer to a production model, which could eventually join Buick’s lineup on the mainland. As for this other Wildcat EV concept, it revealed the outline of the brand’s new visual identity, a theme that was also used on the Electra-X concept.
It’s not clear if all nine model names will be used, but it’s clear that the Electra name is here to stay… in GM’s imagined electric future, a future that will begin in 2024 when the first Buick electric vehicle is expected to hit our roads. As for the electric shift, Buick should in principle complete its own by 2030.
