Norway to start producing electric cars again, as Think! restarts in 2007
Electric cars are popular in Norway due to the fact that they are non-taxed and are not charged for parking. However, Think! has not been producing cars in Norway as of late, as the Swiss firm that bought the company from Ford in 2003 went bankrupt last year.
A Norwegian group has bought the car's rights and production sites from the bankrupt firm and plans to start building them again this year. They also are planning upgrading the batteries to allow for a range of 180km and a top speed of 100km per hour, which is a little over 60 mph.
This car reminds me of the Kurrent, which we covered here. Small, electric-only two seater. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think that the Think! this is the car that the psychiatrist on Eureka!, the television show, drives around in. Anybody know for sure?
Related:
[Source: The Norway Post]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. 4:12PM (2/02/2007)
Fundamental difference: The Th!nk originally developed as a "real car"; as marketed by Ford, it didn't need to live under the US NEV rules.
This made it a far more useful and desireable vehicle. I could use this one for my current daily commute, where the 25 mph top speed limit for NEVs make them nearly useless for me.
If only Ford had stuck with it a few more years...
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Ron Fischer 4:40PM (2/02/2007)
I leased the Ford Th!nk for almost three years. Main drawbacks in LA were tight range (40 miles on the water cooled NiCads) and lack of AC. Still, it worked great for me (commute is about 9 miles each way). The second gen Th!nk, whose engineering was completed to the point where running prototypes were shown, was about to go to production with AC and better battery (Zebra?) when Ford 'pulled the plug' in unison with other carmakers. IMO there is not enough profit in this type of small vehicle to encourage its production by any major automaker.
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Tormod 5:44PM (2/02/2007)
Although their web-site is not particularly up-to-date, there are some more recent pictures than the one used in the article under:
http://think.no/
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Sondre 8:06AM (2/03/2007)
Norway have also taken over the Danish production EV Kewet. The new model Kewet Buddy is being produced at a small assembly factory in Oslo.
http://www.elbilnorge.no/
While Think is an eletric car, the Buddy is registered as an electric "motorcycle".
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kert 8:20AM (2/03/2007)
both Kewet Buddy and Th!nk are pretty decent commuters, though, performance-wise. Highway capable, more than enough range.
There's London where there are two different city cars on sale, G-Wiz and NICE, and third soon to be marketed, ZENN.
Now we have norway with two city cars entering or being on market.
I think we are seeing a trend here. Note that none of these cars is being built or offered by major car brands.
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Greg A. 9:42AM (2/05/2007)
Isn't DCX going to offer an electric smart fortwo in Europe?
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