CARazed

TH!NK Global, the Norwegan electric car company, is making great strides toward bringing their cars to America. Think Global has established TH!NK North America in a partnership with the leading clean-tech investors RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins, Caufield and Byers. Other Think Global investors include American corporate giants like General Electric.

Their first car, the TH!NK city is an electric car capable of 65 miles per hour and a 124 mile range on a single charge. The car also meets all European and US federal motor safety requirements. Real highway speeds and approved crash testing are teo things only a few electric car makers can say. These two requirements also rank very high for most American buyers.

“The TH!NK city is the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified EV and is ideal for markets such as California where we will initiate demonstration projects offering an exceptionally safe and fun car to drive… We are therefore proud to partner with the two pioneering investors in the clean tech field and to launch TH!NK city in North America with them.” says Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think Global.

Currently the TH!NK city is being manufactured in Norway and sales will begin shortly in Scandinavia, Switzerland, and France. The initial cost to European buyers will be around EUR 20,000. Sales in North American should begin in 2009 and prices have yet to be determined. A larger 4/5 passenger electric car, the TH!NK Ox, is in the works and should be hitting the market in 2010/11. It will be available in a few different body styles like an MPV and a coupe. The TH!NK Ox platform can also be expanded for other type of configurations like a taxi cab and different battery configurations will be available to meet a wider set of needs.

It’s amazing to see so many companies jumping into the electric and plug-in hybrid car arena, from small start-ups to the giant auto makers. I think this quote from TH!NK sums up the birth of the era we are about to witness.

“The transportation industry is undergoing its largest transformation since Henry Ford built the model T. Today we are witnessing a seminal event – the first highway-capable electric vehicle intended for mass production, representing a big step towards a zero emission transportation industry.” – Ray Lane, a Kleiner Perkins Managing Partner and Chairman of TH!NK North America

Above: TH!NK Ox

Above: TH!NK open, a convertible concept in the works.

Photo credit to Think Global.