Buick Electra is a name with a lot of history associated with it and it is the perfect name for an electric car. Buick never relinquished ownership - hence the Lotus Eletre - and now the company is adding 9 new names to its trademark portfolio.
The company submitted 9 applications for the Electra E1 through the Electra E9, the names join previous applications for the Electra and Electra GS. It looks like we have a whole family of electric cars coming from Buick and all of them will carry the Electra name.
The Buick Electra-X was a crossover concept car from 2020 but back then Buick confirmed it was a preview of an electric car aimed at the Chinese market. Then we have the Wildcat concept that was launched just a few months ago which once again, the company confirmed it was meant to be a preview of future EV designs from Buick.
We know that Buick is bringing two electric cars to the US, both based on GM's Ultium platform which means sharing components with the Cadillac Lyriq or Chevy Blazer and Equinox EV. One of the cars is said to have conventional proportions but the other will have a coupe-like silhouette.
Most likely the two upcoming electric Buicks will be called the Electra and Electra GS, respectively. The alphanumeric name is very likely aimed at the Chinese market where the company has a much larger and more diverse portfolio than in its home country.
Things do change, a lot of companies register names that have never been used before, it's possible that the company has few ideas and just registers a trademark just in case one of the ideas is better than the other. What's interesting is looking back at the Electra name on a car and there's nothing more fitting to use than an electric car.