Th!nk could be back in the US as soon as 2008
Electric carmaker Th!nk Global could be on the road to returning to the US market as soon as 2008. The second-generation Th!nk will begin production this fall at a plant in Norway and sales will begin at home. Once they ramp up, they will spread to the rest of Scandinavia followed by England, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the US. If demand warrants, the former Ford-owned company is looking to expand production to other countries, possibly the UK, US or others.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Murphey 10:02AM (2/23/2008)
THE AIR CAR
Commpressed AIR energy storage.
www.theaircar.com
this is what I want
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James Murphey 10:03AM (2/23/2008)
http://www.theaircar.com
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Fabio 9:29AM (7/24/2007)
The Th!nk City seems to be a cool car, indeed, for use within the city and boundaries... The only problem is: how do you charge it when you don't have a private garage and/or do not live in a detached house?
Also, does anyone know how much will it cost?
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GoodCheer 9:41AM (7/24/2007)
I may incur the wrath of other readers by saying this, but I think Th!nk is building what an electric car should be. A clean and competent little car that can get you around the city. NOT a 25mpg glorified golfcart, but a vehicle with range to cover almost anyone's commute, and storage/seating for a week's worth of groceries or the family dog is exactly what we need. While I (like everyone else) am infatuated with Tesla, I can't help but feel that diving in to the deep end might just sink them... though I fervently hope they float.
I also think the story of Th!nk is a beautifully ironic middle finger to Ford for dropping EVs like hot potatoes as soon as CARB was gutted, and I would hope they succeed (using Ford engineering in a Ford built plant) for that reason alone.
cheers
Nat
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hodad66 9:50AM (7/24/2007)
Give me an EV please!! Even if Ford was involved... I'll forgive that.. :) 111 miles would be great for me. Putter around town and go home to charge once again. Air conditioning? Here in Florida it is a must. I think that I will think more about the Think.
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Chris 11:49AM (7/24/2007)
I think that the Th!nk car would be a sweet vehicle to own and would probably fit my needs. The question is, would it fit my budget? I haven't heard any comments concerning price on this vehicle.
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Chris 11:50AM (7/24/2007)
I think that the Th!nk car would be a sweet vehicle to own and would probably fit my needs. The question is, would it fit my budget? I haven't heard any comments concerning price on this vehicle.
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AlexP 1:36PM (7/24/2007)
Yeah, I'm also curious to know how much it will sell for... And when. :V
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AlexP 1:37PM (7/24/2007)
Haha, I just took a look at the website - that car has the Focus' steering wheel.
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kentavos 3:36PM (7/24/2007)
According to one site, it's supposed to be $35,000 and you have to lease the battery every month for $100-120. I'm not sure why it's so expensive if you have to lease the battery.
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Chris 3:48PM (7/24/2007)
If that's the price when it comes here, and you have to lease the battery, forget it.
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Charles S 6:22PM (7/24/2007)
While I'm not that excited about leasing the batteries, it is supposed to be a SOLUTION for those who are concerned about the high costs of batteries. If you have to own the batteries up front, the price tag would be even higher. On the other hand, anything goes wrong with the batteries, you do not need to eat the cost of a new set.
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big L 8:53AM (7/25/2007)
was this Th!nk the Ford Ka that was sold in Mexico? I saw a few of them at different times in so calif. they had Mexico D.F. plates.
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Fabio 8:10AM (7/25/2007)
Looking at the Norwegian section of the Th!nk website, I noticed a link to a page which is not available in the English section.
http://www.think.no/din_think
My Norwegian skills are less than lacking, but I think I got that the base price for the car is 199,000 NOK, which is about 25,000 EUR, which is about 35,000 USD
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jim 8:31AM (7/25/2007)
On occassion, I've toyed with the idea of a GEM EV, equipped with a flatbed as an around town vehicle and to run the inevitable home owner errands. At $10,000 it nearly makes sense, but still loses out to renting the occasional truck and a bicycle.
At 35K or for that matter 20K a vehicle will need to fulfill a far greater range of use than simply a town car.
Leasing the battery makes a lot of sense. The major concern of EVs is how long the batteries will last in real world usage and how much they'll cost to replace.
I'm as distrustful of the claims of EV boosters as I am of the big 3's whining on environmental issuses.
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phil easler 4:21PM (7/25/2007)
The 35000 USD was with the battery pack. Here in the USA it was going to be sold with out it. I have heard the battery back was +/- 8500 USD, subtract that from 35K = 26500, and hopefully the fed with reintroduce the 4000 tax credit, that would then make your Th!nk = $22
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phil easler 8:19AM (7/26/2007)
...left out the total figure from the above post. New Th!nk total cost could be $22.5K. As to the lease amout of $100/200 month, I am already paying over $100 +/month in gas cost for my 35mpg Nissan Sentra. I rather pay it to the battery people then to big oil/ bad countries that would like to kill us.
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lew 12:18AM (8/04/2007)
i'm ready to buy a th!nk now for the same price as a prius. Battery w. 100,000 m. guarantee should be included, just as with the prius. A th!nk buyer is sacrificing a lot in performance, space and comfort in choosing a th!nk over a prius, so he shouldn't be penalized with big battery costs too.
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Peter 8:03PM (8/15/2007)
I've read somewhere that car taxes are very high in Norway so the actual purchase cost could be much lower in other countries. I think it's looks cool and it's the first "ordinary" i.e. neither golf cart nor roadster, that has a decent range and speed -- bring them to the UK, please!
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jimad 2:11PM (9/25/2007)
Th!nk now has an English-language version of their updated website in anticipation of their eminent start of sales of the car into England -- http://en.think.no
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