TH!NK city Debuts in UK
21 July 2008
The TH!NK city electric vehicle made its debut at the 2008 British International Motor Show in London. The two-seater urban car has a top speed of 65 mph and a range of 126 miles in city driving on a single charge. Charging the batteries from 20% capacity to 80% takes four hours. (Earlier post.)
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| The TH!NK city in the UK. |
The TH!NK city accelerates from zero to 30 mph in 6.5 seconds and to 50 mph in 16 seconds. It requires just an overnight top-up of electricity and can travel for 126 miles in city driving on a fully charged battery.
Production started this year in Norway, and the first batch of right-hand drive cars will be delivered to UK customers in summer 2009. Prices of the TH!NK city will be announced closer to the on-sale date.
The TH!NK city is the sixth-generation electric vehicle that has been produced in Norway. Series production of the newly designed TH!NK city car recently started and the first cars have been delivered to Norwegian customers. Currently, cars are being produced at a rate of three to five a day, rising to 20 a day in the next six months.
The capacity of Think’s first assembly plant in Aurskog, outside Oslo, is presently being increased to 10,000 cars per year. Think plans to increase its production capacity with new assembly plants in the USA, Continental Europe and Asia in the next two years.
In April this year, Think established TH!NK North America in partnership with RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers. Sales other than initial trial and demonstration projects will begin in the North American market in 2009.
At the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, Think announced a strategic partnership with General Electric, also an investor in Think. Think has also established partnerships in the US with lithium-based battery suppliers A123 Systems and EnerDel.
Would this be the zebra battery version? I'm quite tempted....
Posted by: clett | 21 July 2008 at 06:33 AM
I'm tired of these g,ay looking electric vehicles.
Posted by: ejj | 21 July 2008 at 07:20 AM
Unfortunately, with the exception of Tesla's roadster, nearly all new EVs look like they have been beaten with the ugly stick. Can't anyone design a sleek EV that will excite car buyers?
Posted by: gr | 21 July 2008 at 07:45 AM
C'mon guys open your minds a bit.
You are hung up on what is considered a nice way to dress internal conbustion engines. It isn't going look good on electrics.
There is a kid on the block with new skills and tricks. She'll develop a style that matches her attributes.
Give her time to develop her own style. When you understand it you'll like it.
Posted by: Andy | 21 July 2008 at 08:18 AM
ejj, this is Green Car Congress. You're in the wrong place. You want Right Wing Homophobic Nutcase Congress. I happen to think that the NICE and the Th!nk look just fine and I would gladly park either in my driveway. Furthermore, if I didn't think they looked nice, I wouldn't resort to hate speech to say so. What's really sad is that you're such a dedicated homophobe that you're intentionally typo-ing your hate speech so that Typepad won't delete your message. There is a place for people like you; it is called Alabama.
Posted by: Peter | 21 July 2008 at 08:54 AM
Peter - you're being intolerant & insensitive towards my point of view. I'm not a nutcase, h,omophobe (scared of gays) or right-wing....I just am tired of these g,ay-h,omo looking electric cars that look like they were dreamed up in San Francisco or Miami Beach.
Posted by: ejj | 21 July 2008 at 09:47 AM
@ejj
Design a vehicle yourself, put it on the web, and post a link here. Or take a picture or name us a typical vehicle that you would like to see as an EV.
Derogatory labeling will only get yourself labeled.
Posted by: NCyder | 21 July 2008 at 10:30 AM
It's not just fear, it can also mean dislike.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=37722&dict=CALD
I'm tired of your homophobic comments. Stop it.
Posted by: Scatter | 21 July 2008 at 10:37 AM
ejj: Lightning,Fisker,Tesla,Volt ... not macho enough for you?
Posted by: OldNeil | 21 July 2008 at 11:17 AM
How about an EV based on the Corvette? New Camaro? These don't look g,ay-h,omo. The Volt is okay - needs a little refining though.
Posted by: ejj | 21 July 2008 at 11:32 AM
I hesitate to think what ejj would say about the Aptera.
Posted by: Reality Czech | 21 July 2008 at 12:39 PM
Or how about putting Tesla drivetrain into modified Mazda RX8?
Posted by: MG | 21 July 2008 at 02:41 PM
Corvette? Camaro? LOL ejj's looking for a hemorrhoid car. (holds thumb and forefinger half an inch apart)
Posted by: OldNeil | 21 July 2008 at 03:30 PM
The car looks like a normal compact car. What's wrong with that? These comments about the look of the car are just wrong. Looks are totally subjective and value based. Guess what, they are totally personal. You don't like the look, big whup. It's a personal judgement, you should've realized it and kept it to yourself.
Only got one comment. 30000 for the car and a 300/monthly fee may be a bit steep for some people.
From the earlier post.
"Think Global will own and maintain the battery. The customer pays a monthly fee—approximately €200 (US$305)—which includes a full maintenance service agreement, carbon offset payments and, in some countries, all electricity used, and insurance. Think will exchange the battery when necessary."
Hopefully when they ramp up, the price will come down.
Posted by: aym | 21 July 2008 at 04:12 PM
TH!NK City Battery Options
Supplier:Mes-Dea,A123Systems, EnerDel
Type:Sodium nickel chloride (Zebra),Li-ion
(doped Nanophosphate),Li-ion
(layered manganese oxide)
Capacity (kWh): 28, 19 ,26
Storage System Density (Wh/kg): 114.3, 73.1, 100
Range (km/miles): 170/106, 130/81, 180/112
Nominal Voltage (V): 370, 370, 370
Weight (kg): 245, 260, 260
So either they jacked up the battery capacity or something else. For a city commute vehicle, any of the battery options would be suitable for most people.
Posted by: aym | 21 July 2008 at 04:22 PM
Try starting with the viewpoint that the service you want from a car is efficient, safe and sustainable mobility. Looks are secondary. I don't really care that much what a car looks like, if you do care then maybe you should consider whether you're basing your self-image on your possessions. That's not really a great place to be.
Posted by: critta | 21 July 2008 at 04:47 PM
Andy:
"There is a place for people like you; it is called Alabama"? Darest I say thou art from the coast of the Barbary? Regional prejudice...yuck.
Anyway, I like the car too and that's why I'm looking. But I am somewhat dissapointed in the battery performance. Ener1 was talking about this sweety sporting a Li-ion that would give us 10x the range, faster charging, better cycle life and 5x the output (not to mention no blowin' up). Tisk, tisk, forsooth. That is, if I don't have my technologies mixed up. Is this the one that uses silicon nanowires?
Posted by: Justice | 22 July 2008 at 09:35 PM
If Ejj won't say it I will!: Faaaaaabulous darling!
Sheez, when will people stop thinking that macho means just one thing. doiiiiii!
Posted by: Justice | 22 July 2008 at 09:41 PM
Ugh to the following comments
"Looks are totally subjective" yeeees, and your pointttt?
"and value based." yes we all have values and it is important to speak about them otherwise we'll never be understood.
"You don't like the look, big whup. It's a personal judgement, you should've realized it and kept it to yourself." Judgment is part of our human faculty to distinguish and make important evaluations. aka:judgements).
"you should've realized it and kept it to yourself."????
It's a forum and it's on topic, though I admit his expressions are puerile.
Gotta love that Aptera though!
Posted by: Justice | 22 July 2008 at 09:53 PM
Lost chances !
An excellent illustration of where GM could be now if they had not killed the EV1.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 23 July 2008 at 10:36 AM
Judgement is based on values, some of them are qualitative rather than quantitative. Qualitative judgements are totally variable. No two people are going to judge something exactly the same, especially looks.
That sort of judgement is personal and should've been kept personal because it led to various posts that have more to do with the value of the judgement, which is qualitative, and thus not measurable. Having grown up in a cheap-gas environment, efficient cars will always be penalized by judgements that come from these ephemeral attributes.
Posted by: aym | 23 July 2008 at 11:28 AM
I need a family EV car for my 2.5 kids. Come on guys, sell it to us like you did the SUV! We are ready for it.
Posted by: Ruben | 02 August 2008 at 12:11 PM