Think Announces U.S. Factory Plans

[Electric Aid]

It´s on. As U.S stimulus plans targeted towards electric car developments rolls out and consumer awareness grows, Think might find them self in a perfect storm in the 11th. hour.

Think just announced it aggressive chess move into the U.S market. The plan calls for establishing a factory and development center in the U.S as quick as possible, and they are currently in talks with representatives with from seven states to see which is the best suited for Thinks expansion. If all goes well the plant will produce 2.500 car within 2010 for fleet customers, and with an eye for 16.000 cars a year production the following year.

Keep on reading for the full press release. If you still want more after that, be sure to tune in at Enerdel´s press conference live at 5pm eastern time.

Aslo read Think Announces U.S. Factory Plans part II

Think City in the U.S

Press release:

(Ann Arbor, Mich., USA, March 12, 2009) Think meeting with eight states to host Think EV plant.

Norway’s pioneering electric car maker, Think, plans to open a new manufacturing plant and technical center in the United States. The company is currently in discussions with eight states, including Michigan, hoping to host the facility, which will initially employ about 300 workers with a starting capacity of 16,000 cars per year. The technical center will provide jobs for another 70 engineers and electric drive specialists. Plans ultimately call for up to 900 employees and a capacity of 60,000 electric vehicles per year.


“The U.S. is quickly overtaking Europe as an attractive market for EVs and is an ideal location to engineer and build EVs,” said Think CEO Richard Canny. “We see ourselves playing a small but potentially growing role in re-inventing the U.S. auto industry by bringing back new manufacturing jobs to the U.S. to replace internal combustion engine vehicles that are expensive to operate and maintain with clean, efficient electric vehicles.”


The plant will build the innovative TH!NK city, a sophisticated, high-tech compact electric vehicle recently nominated for England’s prestigious Britt Design Award. The all-electric car can travel up to 112 miles on a single charge. The car is designed, engineered and produced to have the lowest possible carbon footprint with recyclable plastic body panels and a fully recyclable interior. U.S. production is expected to start in 2010, with the first-year volume of 2,500 units being available to pilot and demonstration fleet projects.


Canny and other officials from the company’s subsidiary, Think North America, are in Ann Arbor this week meeting with representatives from the state of Michigan and seven other states to discuss options to bring electric vehicle manufacturing jobs to the U.S. The program includes a ride-and-drive event with the production level version of the TH!NK city electric car presently on sale in Europe.

Think North America also plans to apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, which was created in 2007 to help develop U.S. production capabilities for the highly fuel-efficient vehicles needed to meet long-range energy security and environmental challenges.

Think is also collaborating closely with battery makers Ener1, Inc. and A123, which are already under contract to supply compact, high-powered lithium-ion power systems for the TH!NK city. The two companies are part of a growing U.S. supply chain serving the electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid car markets.

“We’re seeing a whole new system of suppliers and producers taking shape in this country to create a new high-tech manufacturing base,” said Ener1 CEO Charles Gassenheimer. “Having an important partner like Think here will help us continue to push the technology and develop this new industry even more quickly. It’s also going to give us an edge against our overseas competitors.”

Canny also welcomed Kleiner Perkins as a shareholder in Think Global. Kleiner Perkins partner, Ray Lane, expressed his support for Think’s increased emphasis on the North American market.

“Electric vehicles like the TH!NK city represent an opportunity for the U.S. to become more energy independent,” said Rockport Capital Partners Co-Managing Partner Wilber James. “Based on the production rate of 30,000 electric vehicles per year, the TH!NK city fleet would replace 900 million gallons of oil over ten years.”

“The auto industry is poised for a revolutionary transformation enabled by fundamental advances in power electronics and battery technologies,” said Dr. Jim Lyons, CTO of Think NA and partner at Novus Energy. “EVs are inherently simpler and cleaner as exemplified by the TH!NK city – a next generation solution to urban mobility.”

Battery powered electric vehicles provide a number of advantages for the administration seeking to increase energy efficiency and security. Electric powertrains are about three times more efficient than gasoline counterparts. Battery electric vehicles are also cheaper to maintain and operating costs for charging range from $2 - $3 for 100 miles at average US electricity rates. The TH!NK city vehicle draws on the company’s 17 years of experience in EV development and production and more than $100 million invested by Ford Motor Company during the four years the company held a majority stake in Think.

Think will also continue production of the TH!NK city in Europe. Think started producing the new generation TH!NK city at its Norwegian assembly plant in limited volumes last year.


About Think

Think designs, develops, manufactures and markets environmentally friendly vehicles and technologies. Think has been developing and producing urban mobility solutions since the early 1990’s. In 2008, the company launched the TH!NK city, the latest generation electric vehicle designed and engineered by Think. Think vehicles are designed to be smart, flexible and continuously updated to deliver state-of-the-art urban mobility. Currently, the company operates production facilities in Aurskog, Norway with a plant capacity of 5,000 units per shift (max. 16,000 units/year).


About Novus Energy Partners

Novus Energy Partners is a clean energy fund established in 2008, with offices in Alexandria, Va. and Oslo, Norway. Novus focuses primarily on investments in wind, solar and electric transport technologies. Its partners include founders of REC, GE Wind Energy, and PowerSicel.
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[stephen shields]

both states were both a great choice in having a US factory for Th!nk cars... having such factories both in Indiana and California is much better methinks...from ford ranger parts dealer

[Electric Aid]

Yes it is quite something I must say.

I have also always thought that California would be a great place to put up a plant but like you say from a political standpoint it is probably much better with some of the industrial states. The polititians have more of a stake in getting manufacturing jobs there than in the California I would believe. Public opinion much be in Think favor exactly for the reasons you are describing here.

[Speculawyer]

This is getting a little weird. Think went from a company in receivership to a company wherein various countries are offering incentives to locate the factory in their country. And within one country (USA), various states are competing with different incentives to get the factory to locate in their state.

Indiana might be a good choice since there is a large number of unemployed from the mobile home industry and Indiana is home to Enerdel, one of Th!nk's battery suppliers. California may also be a good state since the Governator passed a bill offering tax incentives to EV companies (originally targeted at Tesla but applies to all EV makers) and is close to good markets for the Th!nk City (San Francisco and Los Angeles.)

[Electric Aid]

So now that it has all sunk in a bit:

Whooha =) Dont you agree ?