A GOOD TH!NK COMING

Paradigm Shift: GM, Nissan, Toyota and Honda are all building plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), making that concept almost mainstream and moving all-electric vehicles (EVs) from the lunatic fringe to the cutting edge.

At the cutting edge, the first thing to ask about is the battery.

Norway’s Th!nk Global has taken its City EV to Scandinavian markets this year and, with Silicon Valley VC backing, is making plans to bring it to selected markets in the U.S. in 2009. (See PLUG-N CARS EVEN CLOSER and GE GETS INTO BATTERY RACE)

When it hits the U.S., the Th!nk City will offer buyers the choice of a "sodium battery" system (active materials are sodium, nickel and iron) or either of two lithium-ion batteries, one from A123 Systems and one from Enerdel.

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Norway’s Think to Produce, Sell Small Electric Cars in U.S.
Norihiko Shirouzu, May 29, 2008 (Wall Street Journal)

WHO
Th!nk Global AS (Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO) and subsidiary Th!nk North America; Venture Capital (VC) firm Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers (Ray Lane, managing partner)

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WHAT
With Silicon Valley-based VC backing, Th!nk is planning to sell its City, an all-electric vehicle with a 110-mile/battery charge range and an under-$25,000 price tag, in the U.S.

WHEN
- 2003: Ford sold Th!nk to its Norwegian owners.
- 2009: The Th!nk City expected to go on sale in the U.S.
- 2010: The Th!nk Ox will be introduced in European markets. A U.S. launch will follow.

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WHERE
- Th!nk Global AS is based in Oslo, Norway.
- Th!nk has opened a U.S. office in Menlo Park, CA, and begun looking for U.S. and Mexico plant sites.
- Th!nk is just now being sold in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
- The company is planning to begin marketing to smaller, denser U.S. West Coast cities like San Francisco and Seattle.
- Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers is based in Silicon Valley.

WHY
- The Th!nk is all-electric and recharges overnight from a standard A/C outlet.
- VC investors estimates the U.S. Think market at 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles/year. It is planning 10,000 for this year’s European sales.
- Th!nk will assemble the City in the U.S. due to the weak dollar.
- The Th!nk Ox will be a 5-seat all electric vehicle with a 150-mile range.
- Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers, probably the best-known Silicon Valley VC group, backed Netscape, Amazon and Google among many other successes.
- Other VC money is backing EV start-up companies such as Aptera, Phoenix and Tesla.

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QUOTES
Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO, Th!nk Global AS: "What we have is a city car so we would focus on big cities…But we think there's an opportunity for us also on the East Coast, or any city in the U.S. that wants to encourage use of pollution free electric cars. We don't care if it is in Texas, we will be there."