Tesla has pulled its trademark filing for the Model E, killing thousands of potentially punny headlines in the process.
The artist formerly known as the Model E would be Tesla's third ground-up vehicle design after the S and X, and is rumored to hit the market in 2016/2017 with a 200-mile range and a $35,000 price tag. The "Gen-3" car is aimed at the 3 Series/A4/C-Class set, with a new architecture that's about 25 percent smaller than the current Model S.
Also, Tesla says it won't be debuting the Gen-3 anytime soon, despite rumors of a concept coming out early next year.
Considering the established nomenclature, Tesla might continue to stick with its single letter naming scheme. Then again, it could harken back to the Roadster days and give the Gen-3 a proper title instead of employing marketing interns to throw darts at kindergarten alphabet poster.