THINK Has Your EV Car Ready. Now.
THINK is not a start-up anymore, though it was one in the beginning of the 1990s when the world experienced a similar recession. Their history is fascinating, with USD 150m invested by US car giant Ford during the companies ownership of the Norwegians, struggling after Ford sold them out in 2003, until in 2006 Norwegian Investinor and other investors bought the company. Under new management and with new strategic goals the company is ready to become a major player in the growing electric vehicle market.
Their vision is to provide a better way of moving, which is carbon and carefree. The result of their vision is an electric city car with a Scandinavian design and modern technology under the hood. The THINK City is manufactured in Finland by Valmet Automotive, who is also a shareholder and strategic partner. It seems the Finns are establishing themselves slowly but surely as a major player in the EV manufacturing segment, a very smart decision. But back to THINK.
THINK currently produces and sells only one model, the THINK City. It is an urban car which can travel up to 180 km on one charge, and has a top speed of 100 km/ h - plenty for the city. It seats two and comes with all the gadgets and safety features you'd expect from a car, and connected to a standard plug it recharges fully over night. The THINK City sells at NOK 285.000 in Norway, that is about EUR 35.000. While the price may seem steep, one needs to remember that the costs for driving will be a fraction of what you pay for gasoline, and thus you safe money in the long term. And with growing output we should see a decrease in price over time.
The Norwegians have two further models in development. The THINK O, pictured on the right, is a five seater, and reading their description it sounds like this is going to be the car for the open source and web savvy person: email, internet, real-time navigation and open source interfaces will make every technology aficionado smile and anticipate this car.
The second concept is a cabriolet which is based upon the THINK City, but made for those who enjoy to feel the sun and wind in their face when driving. It will be equipped with the same technology package as the O, so if you prefer to drive with an open top your decision is made easy. Add in that the Norwegians are cooperating with the London Royal College of Art to design a better car interior and we should be very excited to see what they come up with.
Given that Finns seem to long for freedom from cars I believe this could be an excellent car for our cities. And unlike the Tesla and Fisker Karma the cars are affordable in comparison, and do already exist, today. With Better Place, the provider of EV services, securing millions in funds world wide to roll out their network, THINK and other EV companies are a few steps ahead of the big car manufacturers, who still try to figure out EVs. Considering the company has just announced their plans to open an assembly plant in the USA, with an investment of USD 43.5m to improve facilities, I'd say that this is very successful start-up story.
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Been following this story for a while, and even though it sounds interesting, I am rather skeptical to the result. Electric cars are going to break through this year, if one believes media and the companies, but so far I have heard only Renault-Nissan thinking on the recharging infrastructure (that is, in Denmark). Now, Think really needs to think about how to recharge the cars conveniently and at an affordable price, as it may be the convenience factor keeping the sales behind the potential. Perhaps not such an issue elsewhere, but at least in Scandinavia, the distances are quite significant, if one is about to leave the hometown (or, just bundle the car with a train ticket?). Another Nordic project on the field is AFUTURE EV Pro1, and they are about to put this range issue to test by driving around the world.
TM, Better Place (link in the article) is the one to look at if it comes to getting the infrastructure in place. They have over EUR 100m just for getting the infrastructure up in Denmark, and similar projects are on their way in Australia, Japan, the US and elsewhere.
Think markets the City as an urban car, and for Scandinavian circumstances a range of 180 km on one load is enough for that. Yes, if you want to travel to the summer house or somewhere further than 180 km you would need the infrastructure to be able to recharge on the way, but I wouldn't look directly at the manufacturer to solve that problem. The suggested train ticket would currently be the way to go. I do agree however, that THINK should make sure their batteries can be fast and convenient recharged, so they should cooperate with Infrastructure providers like Better Place to make that possible.
The AFUTURE EV Pro1 looks like a similar undertaking as Sähköautot - Nyt! in Finland. Interesting, but given that with Sähköautot - Nyt! you need the basic car + the kit to make it an EV the end price is likely higher than a THINK City EV.
This makes the car positioned more as a second car for the family, at least until the infrastructure will be there. Still, it is not enough to build the infrastructure - industry has to make up their mind on a standard plug. Different chargers may work just fine (as with mobile phones until now), but who is going to carry one for a car - the plug just has to fit in. If Better Place is the one to build the infrastructure, and if I am not totally wrong, in Denmark this happens more or less in cooperation with Renault Group, thus Think is not exactly positioned as the standard setter of the industry in this matter (I may be also totally wrong here). Basically, what is needed is a standard battery pack combined with a standard super fast charging plug. That eCorolla surely looks like an interesting project. A small price comparison: Think costs 35000e and Afuture's Qashqai is 55255e. The modification kit + installation is priced at 18000e, and new Corolla costs in Finland around 20k euros. Perhaps it is best to buy an unmodified car, but 3000 euros for all that extra space does not sound too bad.
A 2nd car for the family (but then likely with the extra seats in the back) or for an Urban Single/ Couple. I think realistically the majority of people drive in cities, and those who do drive longer distances have other needs for a car and wouldn't consider the THINK City in the first place. Its a car targeted very clearly at the Urban population.
The Mobile Industry has needed roughly 15 years to come to the decision to make one plug fits all, so it would be interesting to see if the Automobile industry is able to get a common plug for EVs from the start. Given that they have standards for (gasoline) fuels at the moment, one could assume that something in that direction is in the works, though I am not sure. I guess comparing the current EV plugs among each other should solve that question.
Renault-Nissan is indeed partnering with Better Place, check here and scroll to the bottom. Where that leaves THINK is difficult to say, if the plug is standard they're good. THINK has, btw, already quite a few cars on the road in Denmark, and had the largest fleet of EV cars during COP15 in Copenhagen.
Re: eCorolla, yes, 3k for extra space is worth it. However, if I remember correctly, that doesn't include the costs of installing the kit and getting rid of the engine (though you likely get money for a new engine, of which you in turn can pay the installation). I concur that the THINK City is high priced and they should drive down the price to make it a real alternative. In my opinion they could get away with a price of EUR 20.000 to 25.000 which is still high, but it would be needed to attract early adopters. If you get them, and are able to cross the chasm, I am sure that with the rising numbers of the early majority you're able to drive down the price so that it is a real alternative.
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Living in suburban Chicago with a 35 mile commute each way to work the Think City is high on my list when it becomes available. I'm not typically an early adopter, but this car is almost unique in that it has been very well tested. I trust to it will have a good radio and reasonable electronics package.
As for the plug, the new charger pack being supplied with the City is standard plug 120/230 volt with 3 KW output. For the 23kWh battery that's a full charge in less than 8 hours at home. Much more rapid charging will be available to the tune of something like 80% charge in 15 minutes. EnerDel, the Think battery supplier, is working on demos now with Itochu.
what is the bhp and mph
I don't know what the bhp is, but top speed for the American market version to be introduced just before the NY Auto Show will be 75 mph.
It's a city/suburban car. It seems that so long as you aren't worried about carrying a family around or going on long trips it can serve a lot of needs. The larger promise seems to be it can do so with very little maintenance or deterioration.
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