I can’t help myself; while some people lust after a Tesla Roadster or the upcoming Fisker Karma, I fancy myself as a Think City driver. This Norwegian company was among the fastest to market with a solid, smartly built electric vehicle (EV) that boasts a 110-mile range and a top speed of 65 mph. But the global financial crisis hit them hard, with The Wall Street Journal erroneously telling the world that they went belly up in early January.
Of course, who can resist Mark Twain. The reports of Think Global’s death were greatly exaggerated. The company raised more than $25 million over the last five weeks to resume production, and an expected loan by the Norwegian government should help the company start operating in the black and reach their goal of producing 10,000 EVs per year starting next year. *
The company’s roadmap includes a US expansion in 2011 or 2012, where they hope to manufacture 50,000 electric cars per year. They also have plans for a 5-seater called the Ox.
I love this test drive. See if you do, too.
______
* EVs and Plug-in Hybrids are crucial the the renewable energy industry. This is another thing that Obama gets; I’ll write about it soon.
Wow, very impressive. It’s not just the range but the extreme conditions under which it performs. Imagine getting this range and speed all the while doing it in one of the coldest countries in Europe! It comes as a flash out of the blue to see what the technology is capable of and really highlights the tradeoffs that different companies have made to get their EVs out the door.
I’d never heard of this car before so thanks for the good catch.
Adrian…
It is a very cool car, to be sure. I’ve been covering it in my day job for more than a year, and venture capitalists Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers is behind their push into the US.
Think Global was actually owned by Ford, but they stopped funding it and cut their losses a number of years ago. The batteries are supplied by a US company, EnerDel which has a $30,000,000 purchase order from Think for 2009. EnerDel is in very good shape for a low-carbon economy, as they’re selling batteries to PHEV and EV manufacturers and to power utilities interested in storing excess renewable energy.