Ford Trademarks Maverick Lightning and Ranger Lightning Names

• Ford has filed a trademark for both the Ranger Lightning and Maverick Lightning.
• The trademark filing was made in Europe.
• It could mean that two new electric pickups are on their way.

CarBuzz was the first to report that Ford has filed trademarks for "Maverick Lightning" and "Ranger Lightning" with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. Revealing that a new trademark has been filed doesn't always guarantee that a vehicle with that name will come out, and it could just be Ford protecting its intellectual property and safeguarding the names before someone else does.

However, it makes perfect sense for Ford to turn the Lightning name into a sub-brand that will eventually span across a family of vehicles. It would mimic the strategy the brand has already taken with both the Bronco and Mustang names.

The industry has been abuzz with reports that electric versions of the Ranger and Maverick have been in the pipeline for sometime now, though Ford hasn't made any official announcement. At the launch event for the F-150 Lightning earlier this year, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that Ford was already working on "another electric pickup truck that's different from this one." Though Ford declined to offer any more information at that time, it's not a big leap to imagine that he was alluding to an electrified version of the upcoming, all-new 2023 Ranger.

If Ford follows through, it's possible that a Lightning variant could join the Ranger lineup by 2026. That would be a long time to wait, but Ford has just barely broken ground at Blue Oval City, its new hub for EV manufacturing. That 3,600-acre mega project isn't slated to be done until 2025, and expecting yet another EV from Ford before that time while it's also ramping up production of the F-150 Lightning might be a stretch.

Farley has also publicly mentioned the possibility of an all-electric Maverick, and we don't doubt that we will eventually see this come to fruition, too. However, a trademark filing is just one step, and we don't expect to see these EV trucks for at least a few years.

Edmunds says

Let's hope the expected Maverick and Ranger Lightnings are worth the wait.