Jaguar->ke39 Land Rover’->ke46s plan to offer electric vehicles->ke1030 took a big step after the company filed three new trademarks in Europe’s Office of Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

According to AutoGuide, the automaker has filed trademarks for the names “I-Pace,” “I-Type,” and “Velar.” At least two of those names appear to point to a pair of future EV versions of Jaguar’s existing F-Pace->ke5038 SUV->ke145 and F-Type->ke1224 sports car.->ke506 The third name, “Velar,” is likely tied to Land Rover as a reference to the original Range Rover->ke46 pre-production prototypes built between 1969 and 1970 as a decoy for registering pre-production Range Rovers.

It’s still unclear if Land Rover is dusting off the Velar name for a future production model, but it does appear that Jaguar’s plans for an electric SUV and electric sports car will eventually give birth to EV models that will carry those names. Jag, after all, has previously hinted of its plans to have an electric SUV by 2017 to compete against the Tesla Model X. The automaker even went as far as demonstrating three new research demonstrators that incorporate electric power back in September 2015.

All roads do seem to lead down that path, so it’s likely JLR will have something planned for these trademarks. If it sticks to its promised timetable, the I-Pace SUV – if it does end up using that name – should arrive by 2017 with the I-Type sports car not expected until 2020. As for the Velar, well, only time will tell if Land Rover has any serious plans or if it’s just doing the same thing it did back then when it used that exact name to hide its true plans.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Why it matters

So Jaguar has set the wheels in motion and I couldn’t be more excited about these trademark filings and what they could mean for Jaguar’s future EV plans. Obviously, the British automaker has already laid the ground work for these models, specifically the model that’ll likely be named the I-Pace.

The all-electric SUV, in particular, is expected to sit on the same aluminum architecture as the XE and F-Pace. That platform was designed with an all-electric powertrain in mind. In addition, Jaguar is reportedly set on using an an electric motor that will be mounted at each corner, thus retaining the use of driveshafts. It’s also expected to carry a range of 300 miles and have a price tag of £60,000, which would be a little over $90,000 based on current exchange rates.

This is some exciting news, but I do have one gripe about these trademark filings. There are 26 letters in the alphabet and JLR settled for the letter I. I’m sure the company’s aware of this, so it’s more baffling to think that nobody thought that the “I” name would hit a little too close to home to BMW’s own “i” division, home to the German automaker’s line of hybrid models, including the i3, i8, and future models like the i5 and the i7. I don’t know where it’s going to lead from a legal point of view, but it’s not entirely out of the imagination to at least see BMW contest these trademark filings, especially if both the I-Pace and the I-Type end up being home runs for JLR.

Jaguar F-Pace

Read our full review on the Jaguar F-Pace here.