The Ford Fathom camouflaged during testing.FordFord will call its upcoming electric pickup truck the Fathom in a surprise move announced Aug. 6. Rumors had swirled Ford would call the EV the Ranchero or perhaps dust off another name from its long history, but the Blue Oval opted to chart a new path with a name it's never used before.Kay Hart, Ford general manager of its Model e (electric) division, said the name was the result of a nine-month process culminating in the decision to try something different."It's common practice in the auto industry to name a vehicle with an alphanumeric code," Hart said in a post on Ford's From the Road blog. "A string of letters and numbers tells you about a trim level, an engine, a spec. It's a practice we've employed at Ford, and vehicles like the F-150 have earned a lot of love with this naming convention. But we've been committed to doing things differently with this truck from the beginning. It's in its DNA. And so, we wanted to choose a name—to give the vehicle personality, a soul, and make it a character in our customer's life."AdvertisementAdvertisementA Ford spokesperson elaborated, telling me: "Fathom is a new name for Ford. Since Fathom is a new vehicle, on a new platform, built with a new manufacturing process, it needed a new name."Fathoming a New Electric TruckThe Ford Fathom electric truck during winter testing.Hart said Ford went deep into its archives and conducted focus groups before emerging with the Fathom name. Ranchero appears to have at least been brought up in the discussion, and it was originally used from 1957-1979 on a car-based vehicle with a truck bed. Chevy answered the Ford Ranchero with the El Camino, a similar car/truck concept that gained greater fame and entered the lexicon of automotive terminology, running for most of the 1960s until 1987."Each option came with a specific implication, one that might not fit our new electric truck," Hart said.Additionally, Ranchero sounds a bit like Ranger, Ford's gas-powered midsize pickup truck. Conversely, when Ford went to name its compact truck in 2022, it dusted off the Maverick name used on a small car in the 1970s.Ford Fathom Pricing DetailsThe Fathom will start at $29,945, including destination charges and pre-orders will start in early 2027, Ford said. The midsize electric pickup truck will be assembled of a new architecture for electric vehicles in Louisville, Kentucky.AdvertisementAdvertisementPricing-wise, the Fathom comes in a touch higher than the Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Motors electric truck, which will cost around $26,400, though Ford's truck promises more features, and Slate is a startup venture that's never built vehicles before.Ford says the Fathom will seat five and have a touchscreen, bidirectional power charging and will be capable of running Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The trucks will also offer Blue Cruise, Ford's driver assistance system.The Fathom is Ford's fourth pickup truck, following the long-running F-Series, midsize Ranger and compact Maverick. The Maverick offers some insight as to Ford's strategy for the Fathom, as the company used it as a de facto replacement for the Focus sedan and as an entry point for the brand. While the Fathom will surely attract some Ford truck enthusiasts, its size, price point and electric powertrain all also likely bring in new buyers.My Take on the Ford FathomI like it. It's easy to criticize automakers for boring names or simply falling back on alphanumeric names that are often confusing or overly detailed. Fathom is cool, rolls off the tongue and sounds like the name of a Ford. Given the company's long history and deep catalog of choices, it's a small miracle Ford came up with something that's not just new—Ford Fathom is pretty good.This article was originally published on Forbes.com