Tesla angled for a S-E-X-Y model line-up

Marco della Cava | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Elon musk tweeted a Tesla Model 3 teaser Elon Musk has stated that he is "fairly confident" that Model 3 deliveries will start by the end of 2017. Tesla stock was on the rise during late morning trading Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla had hoped to lure buyers into its showrooms for S-E-X.

The electric automaker's new entry-level sedan, called the Model 3, was supposed to join its upscale cousins the Model S and Model X as the Model E, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Friday.

But it's clear Musk still thinks the locker-room joke will land.

"Model 3 was going to be called Model E, for obvious dumb humor reasons, but Ford sued to block it, so now it is S3X," tweeted Musk. "Totally different :)"

What's more, Tesla has made noise about also producing a Model Y crossover vehicle — the Y in a thwarted S-E-X-Y line-up. Denied his E, it's clear now why Musk went with the number three, essentially a backwards E, in a line-up that otherwise sticks to letters.

To Ford Motor, Model E likely sounded too much like Henry Ford's iconic Model T. While Ford's T was not the first automobile — those honors go to German pioneers — his revolutionary assembly line was the first to make the automobile available to a broad audience.

In a statement emailed to USA TODAY late Friday, Ford Motor officials said in 2010 Tesla had signed a contract in which, "among other things, Tesla agreed not to register or use Model E. When Tesla later sought to register the Model E trademark, Ford insisted that Tesla abide by the parties' earlier agreement. The matter has been resolved."

Tesla is pinning a lot of hopes on the Model 3, which has its coming out party in Los Angeles on March 31. The $30,000-and-up sedan represents Musk's best effort at trying to make electric cars a mass-market proposition.

Model 3 was going to be called Model E, for obvious dumb humor reasons, but Ford sued to block it, so now it is S3X. Totally different :) — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2017

Musk also tweeted out a brief video clip of what appeared to be a consumer-ready Model 3 driving down a street.

Last summer, reporters visiting Musk's mushrooming Gigafactory battery plant outside of Reno, Nev., were greeted by a Model 3 parked in front of the massive edifice, but it had no interior. The car looks very much like a pared down version of its sleek Model S sedan.

Musk used his favorite social media platform to dispel consumer impressions that the Model 3 would take the company's vehicles to the next level.

"Am noticing that many people think Model 3 is the 'next version' of a Tesla, like iPhone 2 vs 3. This is not true," he wrote. "Model 3 is just a smaller, more affordable version of Model S w less range & power & fewer features. Model S has more advanced technology."

EVs have yet to catch on nationally despite models rolling out from traditional automakers such as Nissan (Leaf) and General Motors (Bolt). Consumers remain concerned about range issues of electric cars, and are benefiting from a long spell of stable gas prices.

Musk has said that he hopes the Model 3 helps turbocharge the automaker's production numbers, from around 80,000 today to around 500,000 units a year.

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