Click above for more shots of the Th!nk Ox and City

Th!nk Global recently hired a new President and COO named Richard Canny who had previously been Ford's Worldwide Director of Strategic Planning (details in the Th!nk release after the break). It didn't take too long for Canny to announce that EnerDel would be ramping up its supply of lithium ion batteries for the Norwegian electric automaker. Th!nk has ordered $70 million worth of battery packs from EnerDel, which equates to about 5,000 units. Each pack contains about 27 kWh of power.

Th!nk's current plans call for an electric car to be made in the U.S. for less than $25K. Yeah, we are suitably excited by that prospect. EnerDel is just one of three companies vying for the right to supply the batteries for the new Th!nk cars, though its chances look fairly decent, not least because the company has gotten tax breaks from the City of Indianapolis to expand there and hire 850 new workers.


[Sources: Th!nk, EnerDel, The Indy Star]

Click above for more high-res shots of this custom Th!nk NEV

Ever since at least the 1950's, car culture has included modifying vehicles for added performance and style. With the dawn of the fully electric car, there are some contingents that are all ready considering how best to eke more from the first generation of electric vehicles, like the original Th!nk NEV. Considering that the speed of a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle is strictly controlled, there's not a whole lot that can be done (legally) to increase their performance, but style is another matter entirely. A California company by the name of Electric Car Warehouse has taken a Th!nk NEV from a few years back and added new wheels and tires along with some other stylish duds. Take a look at the gallery below for the end result.

For reference, a NEV is a vehicle that is 4-wheeled, has a top attainable speed in 1 mile of more than 20 mph and not more than 25 mph on a paved level surface, and has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of less than 2,500 pounds. Thanks for the tip, Jerry!


[Source: Electric Cart Warehouse]

EnerDel, the li-ion battery subsidiary of Ener1, announce today that a "fully functional lithium-ion battery pack" is currently operational in a Th!nk City electric vehicle in Indianapolis. Ener1 has a large and growing facility in Indianapolis, and it's no secret that Norwegian company Th!nk will soon build cars in North America, with an eye to selling up to 50,000 units here each year. Ener1 sent out an email to investors today that says that the installation of the li-ion pack, "indicates that EnerDel is on schedule to meet the year-end timetable for volume production under its supply agreement with Think Global." It seems like the battery pack is a 27 kWh pack, just like the three EnerDel sent to Think Global earlier this year. The potential success of companies like EnerDel and Th!nk are good not only for drivers - who might see hybrid premium paytimes of as little as two years if they're not into the pure EVs - but also for the venture capitalists who have been standing behind Th!nk.

Back in April, Th!nk made it known that they would be selling its all-electric "City" car in America in 2009 with a sub $25,000 price tag. With an ambitious desire to ramp up future North American sales into the 50,000 unit-per-year range, Th!nk and its financial backers have realized it doesn't make a lot of sense to be shipping so many cars across the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, especially when those cars have been constructed with labor paid for in euros Norwegian Kroners. Much better to build them in Mexico or the U.S. and not have to absorb all that shipping or worry about the growing gap in currency values. Also, since two of the three battery options to be made available will be supplied by Enerdel and A123 Systems, both American companies, the reasons for keeping production solely in Norway vanish.

To that end, Th!nk's American executives, based in Menlo Park, CA, are out shopping for a place to set up shop.
According to the Wall Street Journal, investment incentives, such as tax breaks from municipalities and states are among the criteria they will be considering. We suggest they choose a site with lots of room for expansion as they will need the extra real estate to begin manufacturing their Th!nk Ox model in late 2010.

Oh, and that "thwack" noise you're hearing from the general direction of Detroit may well be the sound of Ford kicking itself for selling off a brand that now looks so much like the future. Want a glimpse of that future? Check out the short, hyper advert put together by our Norwegian friends after the break.

UPDATE: Norway doesn't use the euro, as it isn't part of the EU. Our apologies.

Renault-Nissan's plans to build electric cars is looking more serious by the day. Nissan has announced its intention to build an electric car for Japan and the U.S., and said so in its presentation to the California Air Resources Board last month. Earlier this year, Renault made news signing on to Shai Agassi's Project Better Place plan to produce electric cars for Israel and, more recently, Denmark. Now, according to a Thomson Financial News report in Forbes.com, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said at a news conference in Portugal, 'We are negotiating to launch an electric car with a Gulf state.'

Israel's desire for electric cars is obvious. A small Middle East state with no oil reserves, it's demand for petroleum finances its enemies. A nation in the Gulf region, presumably with sizable oil deposits, would seem at first glance a less likely candidate to begin to shift toward electricity.

Lessons, perhaps, are being learned from countries as diverse as Norway and Brazil. Each has come to realize petroleum is more valuable as an export commodity than as a transportation fuel. Norway has 50 percent of Europe's oil reserves. Yet, electrics in the country are given incentives as it continues to export petroleum. The Nordic state is where Th!nk is headquartered. Brazil made investments decades ago to move automobiles off petroleum and on to locally-produced sugar cane ethanol. As petroleum has been found within its borders, rather than being burned locally it is shipped to world markets at ever climbing prices, helping mitigate the financial problems associated with petroleum imports plaguing many developing countries.

[Source: Forbes.com]

click the Th!nk Ox for a high res gallery

Th!nk's Ox is a five-seat monocab design that has a space frame structure that can be used for a variety of different body styles. Besides the four-door body, Th!nk is also showing a two-door coupe body. The space frame provides the crash structure and mounting locations for battery packs in the floor. The 60kW electric motor should be able to accelerate the 3,300lb Ox to 62mph in about 8.5 seconds. Th!nk is claiming that with lithium batteries the Ox will have a range of about 120 miles. With specifications like that, the Ox is a car that could replace the gasoline vehicles that the majority of the population drives everyday ... in other words, it's a game-changer.


What's Number 7?

As ABG reported earlier today, Th!nk has announced it will be coming to the U.S. market. More information has come out on Reuters via Th!nk's venture capital partners Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Rockport Capital. Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner and chairman of Th!nk North America, said today "In a couple of years, we hope to be selling 30-40-50,000 cars per year." The report states that Th!nk intends to launch the vehicle in 2009 at a sub-$25,000 price point.

Th!nk's VC partners' high profile participation in the electric car maker's U.S. launch is evidence of the greater attention being paid to battery electric technologies after an initial preference for biofuel development.

[Source: Reuters]

click to enlarge

Shortly after announcements that Th!nk would be selling its wares in the U.K. and possibly Australia comes news that the Norwegian maker of small electric cars is launching operations in America. Th!nk's City electric car was designed with the American market in mind, so this news should not be too surprising. There are no hard dates yet announced regarding when the vehicle will actually be available, but having a presence in the states is surely a good sign.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Th!nk UK managing director Richard Blundell said that their all-electric car could be put on sale in Australia without too much hassle. The reason? The Th!nk City, which Blundell pointed out is a real car and not a quadricycle (NEV), is designed to satisfy both EU and U. S. highway safety features and can be sold virtually anywhere. Then there are the business reasons: "Think will evaluate each market based on perceived and sustainable market demand, attractive urban center demographics and conducive legislative policy for the use of EVs," he told The Courier-Mail. Although Th!nk's efforts are focused on selling the car in Europe and America, moving into the Australian market could follow quickly. I think I just heard a cheer.



[Source: Couriermail]

Want one of the all-electric Th!nk City cars powered by a lithium-ion battery? You're one step closer today than yesterday thanks to an announcement by EnerDel, the battery division of Ener1, that it has delivered the first mechanical prototype of the lithium-ion battery pack to Th!nk for form and fit evaluation. Even though Th!nk Citys are popping up in Paris and London, the pack is being tested in a City that is at EnerDel's Indianapolis facility in a car that was delivered last week.

With all of the problems the electric car companies have, it's kind of rare to see li-ion technology moves that happen on schedule. Last October, the two companies said Ener1 would deliver production prototypes to Th!nk in March 2008. Tests will continue until the end of April and EnerDel said in a statement (available after the break) that it expects to have its battery pack operating in the Th!nk City by the end of the year. We'll be waiting for a test drive and reports from customers before we call this a success, but I think this calls for at least a little bit of hope, no?

One of the things happening during the EVER Salon of Green Cars in Monaco is a celebration at the "Rallye de Monte Carlo des Vehicules à énergie alternative" (Rally of Montecarlo for alternative energy vehicles) during the event.

Th!nk decided that, since they're going to sell their new City car in France in a few months (via web!), it'd be a good idea to add some fancy stickers that recall the Mini Cooper from the '60s to the display model. The Th!nk car will be on sale in France for about 25,000 € but the batteries will be leased at a good price (according to Th!nk). The car is expected to have a range of 180 km (120 miles) and a maximum speed of 105 km/h (70 mph).

[Source: Leblogauto]

click the Th!nk Ox for a high res gallery

ABG reader Phil recently contacted us regarding a post we wrote a month ago about a possible announcement from Th!nk on working with a "major automaker" to bring electric cars to market. The announcement never came - although we did hear about the Th!nk Ox and GE's big investment in the company - and Phil was curious about what had happened. We contacted Th!nk and heard from Don Cochrane, Th!nk UK's sales and marketing director. He told us that, "Nothing is about to be announced as far as TH!NK working with another OEM though the TH!NK Ox would require partnership for us to bring it to market," so don't look for anything soon. If the Ox is ever going to be reality, though, someone is going to have to step up. Cochrane did say that, "There will be announcements coming up which I hope will help catalyze our position in the market," so EV fans can keep their fingers crossed these will be a big boost for the Norwegian company.


[Source: Th!nk]

Many of you know Richard Hammond from the very popular and amusing show about all things automotive from Britain called Top Gear. Did you know that he is also a columnist for the UK tabloid The Mirror? Neither did I, but apparently that is indeed the case and has been since 2004. On Fridays he "gives his expert insight into the world of motoring, while on Saturday he gives his own irreverent take on the week's news," according to the Mirror's website.

The reason I bring this up is because he did a piece the other day on the electric Th!nk city car which is coming to England. In the past, Top Gear has not been especially kind to other electric vehicles they've featured, so I was surprised that he seems to be quite upbeat about the Th!nk. Of course, he hasn't driven it yet but says, "I'll no doubt give the THINK a go..." Hopefully if he does, he'll refrain from blowing it up.


[Source: The Mirror]

The Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, has been touting the idea of an electric or hybrid car sharing program for the "city of lights" for some time now. Trouble was, he had an election to win before he could really claim a mandate to make it happen. Luckily for him and his socialist-leaning ways, the electorate have been quite unhappy in recent days with their right wing, wife dumping, model-marrying president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and to express themselves federally, they voted locally for monsieur Delanoë. Still with me? Good.

The program, dubbed Autolib' (kind of like "free car") after the very successful Paris bicycle sharing scheme, Velib', is similar to one already underway in the City of Lyon. Actually, I once knew a guy from Lyon. Claimed absolutely everything had been invented, explored, or worn by the French first . But I digress...

Unlike the 24 vehicle program in Lyon, Delanoë wants 2000 cars for Paris and those automobiles may be practically identical to those yellow Th!nks City cars you see pictured above (photo taken in Paris by the way) as that company is, reportedly, preparing a bid for the project. The monthly bill for the car sharing scheme, the subject of a lot of chatter on the French site Wikio, may be as much as €250. The electricity to run the cars will be offered free. Bonne chance mes amis! (Good luck, my friends!)

[Source: Wikio / EEMS]

click to enlarge

March has been a big month for Th!nk, with the news about $4m investments and the new Ox model out of Geneva. We knew EV fans in Norway would be able to buy a Th!nk City soon, and the good news for Britons is that the City will be available to order in the UK sometime "during the last quarter of this year." Smart Planet notes that the Th!nk City's running costs of around 1.25p a mile are a good place to be and "exactly halfway between the usual stated costs of the G-Wiz and the Mega City." While the Th!nk City does take longer to charge than some other EVs (10 hours at a standard plug vs. 4-6), you get more performance from it. 124 miles per charge being the big one; a little bit of punch with a 0-30 speed of 6.5 seconds being the other. UK buyers can expect to pay £14,000 (just under $28,000US) for a Th!nk City - plus £100 per month for a battery rental. Details after the jump.