Think City Finds Electric Avenue in Finland
TURKU, FINLAND--I am behind the wheel of a battery-powered Think City car, negotiating traffic on snow-covered roads on the way to Valmet, a car factory with a history of producing Porsches and Saabs. Now it is becoming known for something totally different--electric cars. Valmet is part of the Metso Group, which has interests that include mining and paper. It has 28,000 employees and did €6.4 billion in business in 2008. It's the only place outside Germany where Porsches (the Cayman and Boxster) are built. In 40 years, Valmet has produced 1.1 million cars, 220,000 of them high-end Porsches. But Valmet has been reading the tea leaves, and it sees the future as electric. That's why the Think City and the electric Garia golf cart are produced side-by-side with the Porsches. Soon to be added to the line is the high-performance Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid.
The Valmet factory is quiet, clean and almost totally free of the usual robotic production. Instead, intent workers proceed at a relatively relaxed pace to make the cars virtually by hand. The Think line occupies a corner of the factory, and its battery packs, body panels and EV drive controller are assembled in exactly the same slow but effective way. The car proceeds through 14 work stations, then goes through exhaustive testing that includes a water bath, paint and noise checks and validation on a rolling road.
Richard Canny, the Australia-born former Ford executive who heads Think (see video interview), said Valmet is gearing up to produce 6,000 of the two-seat battery cars annually. Its markets today are in Europe (with its home base in Norway the strongest), but by year's end some 500 Thinks made at Valmet will go on sale in the U.S. In the first quarter of 2011, Think (with the help of local, state and federal incentives) will open a second assembly plant in economically-disadvantaged Elkhart, Indiana. After that, Americans will be able to buy American-made Think cars.
"Our mission is to design, develop and produce simple and engaging electric vehicles that will change the world, one car at a time," Canny said. An all-new model arrives in 2012, but although it will have four seats it won't depart in any dramatic way from Think's mission of providing small, affordable urban transportation.
Katinka Von der Lippe, Think's director of design, said the company will soon introduce a 2+2 model with rear-seat room for kids (legroom is limited). Right now, the car has a commodious rear compartment but no second row of seats. Von der Lippe said that the City, which has recyclable mat-finish plastic body panels, offers a very Scandinavian approach to design. "It emphasizes practical innovation, simplicity and functionality," she said.
Chris Neal, Think's product development specialist, said that Think is "agnostic" in terms of the batteries under its plastic hood. The cars we saw being produced were using European Zebra packs, but Think is more than 30 percent owned by U.S. battery supplier EnerDel, and U.S. cars will run with the American packs.
The Think has 100-mile range. It's fun to drive, with robust acceleration and well-weighted power steering. Our car had a minor brake issue rectified by changing a blown fuse. The U.S. price for the Think hasn't been firmed up yet, but it will probably be around $37,000, softened somewhat by a $7,500 federal tax credit and (if you live in California) a $5,000 rebate.
The U.S. will have a ways to go to match European incentives. These are three strong markets for the Think City today, and the benefits they offer:
The Netherlands. Exemption from car sales taxes. Strong government purchase commitments, ie, 10 percent EV purchases in Dutch government fleets. Amsterdam also has a €3 million euro EV purchase program.
Norway. EVs are exempt from car taxes including VAT, and EV owners do not pay road tolls. They can also park free in cities and travel in bus lanes. Norway is weak in government and fleet purchase commitments, however.
France. Very strong purchase commitments from governments and large fleets (including Autolib and La Poste).
Photo: Jim Motavalli