Ford has applied to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reserve the name EcoBeast. As the name suggests, this is very likely for a performance version of some engine.
It's worth repeating that not every application to reserve a name or technology with the USPTO automatically translates into its use, but in some it seems more obvious than others.
The application says the name is to apply to “electric motors and engines for automobiles; powertrains for automobiles; turbochargers for automobile engines.”
The word EcoBeast (it could be Ecobeast, but we’re going with the odds here and write it as EcoBeast) is in relation the other names in use by Ford, namely for its EcoBoost engines that are turbocharged, and for PowerBoost, for the hybrid version of the 3.5L V6 powering the Ford F-150.
The EcoBeast name has already been used before by Ford, with a more powerful variant of a 2.3L EcoBoost 4-cylinder engine. That engine was introduced at the SEMA show in 2015.
We'll see where the name is used, if at all. The rumour mill has already started moving in that direction, with some believing it will be with a powertrain adapted from the Ford F-150 Raptor. The Mustang could also bear the name. It’s not impossible it will be used for an all-electric powertrain.
It’s also possible Ford is trademarking the name just to prevent other companies from using it, which could be confusing with those currently in use at Ford. That doesn’t seem entirely plausible to us, since if the company feared such a thing, it would probably have acted long ago.
We don't know when we'll have the answers to these questions, since the name may never be used. However, a little voice tells us that we might see it appear in the not-too-distant future.