Three pinstriped London investors stand outside an electric car factory in the green fields of the Norwegian countryside, waiting their turns to test-drive a stylish two-seater called the Think City.
But first, Think CEO Jan-Olaf Willums takes the wheel. While the moneymen fiddle with their BlackBerrys, Willums, looking slightly rumpled like the academic he once was, turns the ignition, and the stub-nosed coupe silently rolls toward an open stretch of pavement. Suddenly he punches the pedal, and the car takes off like a shot, the AC motor instantaneously transferring power to the wheels. The only sound is the squealing of tires as Willums throws the little car into a tight turn and barrels back toward his startled guests.
“That looks fun,” Frode Aschim of Range Capital Partners says with a grin. Minutes later, he slides into the driver’s seat and speeds away…
Did someone kill the electric car? You wouldn’t know it on this bright May morning in Scandinavia, where the idea of a mass-produced battery-powered vehicle is being resurrected and actual cars are scheduled to begin rolling off the production line by year’s end…
Willums’s pitch is this: He’s not just selling an electric car; he’s upending a century-old automotive paradigm, aiming to change the way cars are made, sold, owned, and driven.
Very interesting article, wandering through several avenues of alternatives in transportation and manufacturing. TH!NK is an electric car project Ford sold off because their “analysts” concluded there would never be a market for such a critter. Worth the read, folks.
By the bye – the Th!nk City car should be manufactured in a California-based factory and sold in the U.S., next year.
#30 – What’s the cost and frequency of battery replacement?
two comments:
(1) imagine what $500 billion in transportation research over the past 5 years would have bought us, instead of spending it on blowing up things in Iraq?
(2) I dream of the day when we have horizontal elevators. Push a button, a minute later a car arrives, step inside and push another button for destination, and a few minutes later you’re there.
#30–Mark==you miss the entire multi-sensory pleasure of driving a car. “rev-lurch” is what the average driver wants!!
In a consumer economy, you sell the sizzle, not the steak.
yeah all “green terrorists” say electric car is great, yet none of them is actually using it 🙂
Electricity in USA is still manufactured mostly from very dirty materials.
Charging such “environmentally friendly” cars damages environment more than using stupid oil.
Until all the electric car’s engines are powered by some cold nuke fission energy sources or hydrogen, or until all US power plants are only nuke powered, it will be ecological disaster, no doubt (just imagine millions, heck – probably billions! of large battery sets that will have to be disposed of – meaning mostly dumped to landfills – every year worldwide!)
#26 – No trolling. Other than work and shop, what is there to do in the city? How do you get away from other people?
Now, a completely deserted city like in Legend (or the original Omega Man), THAT would be fun to drive around in.
Not to mention, cool hybrids are on the way: http://tinyurl.com/6x5xqb
#31 – Pat, it currently warrantied for 10 years / 150k miles. Replacement in today’s price is 3K$ for new, less than half for refurbished.
#33 Go test drive a Ford Escape hybrid. Or even the Camry. They are very powerful. Rev-lurch away.
What’s cool about the Escape & Camry is that the hybrid versions are all-wheel drive, the Escape having extras as a true 4×4 of course.
ALL – how often do you change you break pads? Disks? Calipers?
Check out this link – 100k miles – non-visible pad wear.
http://privatenrg.com/#100kBrakePads
Pic #1 – 8k miles, Pic #2, 100k miles.
* no visible difference *
Just because of a “weird” look – many people overlook the awesome automotive engineering behind the Prius.
In over 10 years, I will never :
– change brakes
– change shocks
– change muffler
– change transmission
– have a oil leak from the motor
Not just gas savings alone. Think on TCO.
Latest stats put the buyback of a 5 yr old Prius at 71% of original purchase price.
#34–888===when is the last time you read anything? Like even this thread? As in Post #12 &14?
Coal fired electrics have a 35% smaller carbon footprint than gas engines.
Should I look forward to your pile of BS growing larger or smaller?
#37
buyback prices are based on demand.
Ecofriendly cars, gas-saving cars, etc, are currently very popular – hence Prius’ 71% of original price buyback value.
Five years old car, if used all the time, is at best at half of it’s lifetime left.
#37 – Will check it out when I replace my current car. Thanks
#1 – Did you happen to see the solar power charger, douchebag?
RTFA!
#41 – I search the article again. Nothing in the main article about personal solar charger. Is it on another link?
#41 – I like Wal-Mart’s idea of roofing over the parking lot, putting solar/wind, and power outlets underneath.
Keeps all cars cool.
Clean energy for the EV’s or the plug-in hybrids.
Helps power the store.
Big business has to help, the Gov’t sure isn’t.
#36 TheGlobalWarmer ! Shame on you!
Your tiny url links to :
multi-player-casinos.com/multi-player-poker.html
Just one of the domain names in my etc/Hosts file that points to 127.0.0.1.
You could have at least linked to a Rick Roll for the sarcasm.
The Ford Escape is a cool hybrid, btw. Not very efficient, but that can be improved.
#44–Mark==are you doing anything else to save the world besides what might be considered normal? My house is covered by trees, otherwise I’d be looking at going off-grid just for the fun of it.
#44 We’re vegetarians + free reign chicken eggs.
To go off grid – if I lived below the snow line, I would consider it.
There’s a couple in Vermont that did it, they get a kick out of their 9.57$ monthly bill.
http://tinyurl.com/5fplrj
Links to the article on Treehugger.
#46
Being vegetarian is your choice of food, what does it have to do with “doing anything else to hel the world”?!
If you really want to “help the world” by not consuming any of its resources, just commit a suicide!
#46–Mark==thanks. Yea, off grid always meant to me to have batteries, capacitors, hot rocks, and now hydrogen for backup/storage. $10 per month for grid services is a new concept. Way cool.
Actually, 888, by not consuming chicken/pork/beef as part of my daily diet, tons of grain, CO2, and inhumane practices are saved.
Four adults – that a lot of meat – not being grown for us.
Now consider that the cheap bacon you eat, probably comes from Brazil (cheaper price), from a clear-cut tropical forest.
The 100 mile diet – by no means vegetarian – is another way to help the world.
888, continue eating Brazilian pork, the increased PPM of hormones have made you exceptionally sharp today on some topics.
You could have Googled for no meat save world angle.
#21
If your commute is 5 miles why are you even driving? You should be able to do that on a bike with no problem.
#49 I don’t eat pork daily, only very occasionally, so don’t worry about my shot of hormones.
But I think you eat too much mutant veggies (of course they’re all are sold as “organic” for fools believing it) that’s why you aren’t too sharp today, perhaps? Yes, I know “the angle” of “no meat / save the world” and I think 99.99% of it is giant bullshit for idiots (sorry).
I am against cruelty to animals in any form, but I am also against freaks saying meat is any “bad” food. have a look at how your body is build (mainly at what kind of teeth you have, what kind of intestines you have) and tell me again humans should not eat meat 😉
It is noble if you have really quit eating animal flesh in an another “protest” of your countless protests (to save the world, I presume?) but it doesn’t change the facts: if you really want to “save the world” just commit suicide now, I am serious 🙂
(and what does it mean “to save the world”? to keep it in the current state, or to keep it in the state it was 10,000 years ago or something? “The world” changes itself all the time, dinosaurs died without any human interaction, have you forgot? its just another bullshit *you* want to believe because your own life is probably empty and meaningless without it LOL)
#49–Mark==nice to catch a glimpse of the eco-friendly component. Please keep posting.
#42 – Take a look at the graphic on the right hand side of the article labeled “Powering Up.” It shows a solar panel charge system.
#37, a cool look isn’t desirable for a Prius or other hybrid. Environmentalism is a religion and the Prius is for people who wish to wear their faith on their sleeve. Cool looking hybrids or effective high-mileage cars defeat the purpose.
#54
hahaha, funny… yet so true 🙂
#44 – Bizarre – that was a link to a car & driver piece on the Hybrid Escalade. Try this one: http://tinyurl.com/5k74gs
#28 – #26 blathered, “When I lived in Chicago (man, those were the days) I got rid of my car and took the train everywhere… ”
Try that in LA, Dallas, Denver, Atlanta, etc, etc.
I agree.
All cities need to invest in comprehensive public transit.
#50 – #21
If your commute is 5 miles why are you even driving? You should be able to do that on a bike with no problem.
Sure… Bikes and suits go together so well.
#58 – To be fair. The weather & traffic in Chicago would preclude the bike option. I do like being able to fly into town and catch the L from the airport to town. Chicago is a small town though. Mass transit would be almost impossible in SoCal. Too many square miles and spread out.
#58
It is not as crazy or difficult as it sounds. The only exception obviously is inclement weather. My father rode a bike to work, in a suit, for five or six years. At the time, we were also only about five minutes from his office.