30
Sep
07

Th!nk with a little help from Porsche

post info

By Audun Vaaler
Categories: EV and Think

Th!nk has received quite a bit of attention in Norwegian media during the last week, after revealing more information about their production schedule and battery technology, as well as taking reporters on test drives and tours of their factory. It was also revealed that Porsche will contribute expertise on quality assurance and small-scale car manufacturing.

Update 2007-10-16: EnerDel and Porsche news covered by EnerDel and News.com.

Update 2007-10-30: Tesla stated that their battery packs are not to blame for Th!nk’s delay. Two of the articles referenced below gave the impression that Tesla had experienced delays.

Batteries

Th!nk signed an agreement with Tesla Motors in May to supply batteries for the new Th!nk City, beginning in November this year. Problems with Tesla’s battery pack will affect Th!nk as well, reducing production this year from a planned 200–300 cars to around 70. Cars will be on the market beginning in March 2008.

Interestingly, Th!nk is forming partnerships with other battery manufacturers as well. Dagens Næringsliv confirms that an agreement has been reached with EnerDel, and that negotiations are underway with A123.

According to BilNorge.no battery packs will be replaced free of charge if capacity falls below 60% within 5 years. (The batteries will leased separately from the car, to protect customers from covering the costs of any faulty packs themselves.)

Production schedule

As mentioned, the Th!nk City should be in the hands of paying customers in March. Expected sales in 2008 is 2000 cars, ramping up to 10,000 in 2009 and 30,000 in 2013. The factory in Norway currently has 120 full-time employees, and will be capable of producing up to 7000 cars annually. The rest will be manufactured abroad.

According to Th!nk management there has been considerable international interest in the car. CFO Henning Nordby also indicated that a range extender option might become available.

Co-operation with Porsche

Not content with working with only one high-performance car company, Th!nk has also signed an agreement with Porsche, which will contribute its expertise in the areas of quality assurance, small-scale car manufacturing and logistics.

Links, pictures and videos

The news from Th!nk this week seemed promising, and most of the journalists who went for a test drive were quite enthusiastic.

Here are the articles this post was based on. Even if your Norwegian is rusty, many of them include interesting pictures and video clips.

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