Great synergy opportunities provides a positive future for Think

[Richard]

Battery manufacturer Ener1 will invest heavily in the electric car manufacturer Think. The goal is to produce the vehicle in the U.S. within a year. Translated from the Norwegian newspaper DN.no

Think is still in debt negotiations with its creditors, but the company's new major owners are now making promises to help ensure the Think City´s birthright. - We want to get the Think City on the road as quickly as possible, and we are here to ensure that the necessary funding is in place, "said Chairman and CEO of U.S. Ener1, Charles Gassenheimer, which is in Norway to map out the situation.

The vehicle manufacturer from Aurskog outside Oslo, just recently got a funding-package of $ 5.7 million to be able to retrieve some of the employees who were sent on leave before Christmas. Half of the money came from Ener1. Think still need another $ 40 million to get started with the production, and Ener1 is ready with more money.

- The negotiations are not completed, and I can not say other than that we are ready to make a substantially higher investment than what we've done so far, "said Gassenheimer. With a greater investment in Think, Ener1 is set to be one of the dominant shareholders in the company.

- We are here to ensure that a proper business plan and financing are in place, "said Gassenheimer, and elaborates:
- We are serious and are looking for in a leading role in the refinancing of the company, and are therefore conducting a due diligence of the Think. Ener1s subsidiary Enerdel is one of the world's leading battery manufacturers.

Big investments

In the recent past, Ener1 has invested over 200 million dollars in facilities for battery production, both in Indianapolis in the U.S. and in Korea. At the same time, Enerdel sought U.S. authorities to obtain loan guarantees from the U.S Auto emergency package of 480 million U.S. dollars to expand the capacity of battery production.

- The governmental funding packages in the United States provides great opportunities for electric cars, states Ulrik Grape, who is executive director of Enerdel. The goal for Ener1 is start up production of the new model Think City in the U.S, in parallel with the production in Norway.

- There should be no problem to sell 10,000 Think Citys a year in the United States, argues Gassenheimer. The car model, Think City is fully developed for mass production, and the car is crash tested and certified for multiple markets. This is one of the reasons why Think is attractive for Ener1.

- I just came from the autoshow in Detroit. There is lot of talking about ev´s, and many believe they have the solution. But none of them are as long ahead as Think, "says Gassenheimer.

Two years lead

Gassenheimer estimates that Think has a two years head start on competitors, and Ener1 therefore aim to start production in Norway as quickly as possible. As a battery manufacturer Gassenheimer believes it is quite natural for Ener1 to go into the ownership of a electric car producer.

- The batteries is half the story of the car, and we have the production capacity ready, "said Gassenheimer.
- Do you have funds to buy yourselves up in think, and how much will you contribute?
- We have of course not an unlimited amount of money, but we are ready to invest. We accounted for 63 percent of the last funding of Think, and that may server as an indication, "said Charles Gassenheimer in Ener1.