Think Delivers First Cars, with a Fleet and Big-Box Sales Model
One of the more under-the-radar electric carmakers is Think, which is based in Norway but has built a U.S. factory in Elkhart, Ind., and is firmly committed to the U.S. market. Think delivered the first 15 of its U.S.-made 100-mile Think City two-seaters to the state of Indiana on Wednesday, and has plans to produce a total of 300 before the year is out.
Indiana's state government will be a typical customer for Think moving forward. The company will sell 1,400 cars in Europe this year, CEO Barry Engle told me, and 80 percent of those are going to fleet customers. The same pattern is likely to hold in the U.S., and the company seems in no hurry to build a retail network. In Think's sights: a major deal with a big box retailer, rental car sales (both Enterprise and Hertz are renting EVs), and more government deliveries.
Think spokesman Brendan Prebo says the Think City is through all government crash testing, and has both National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and California Air Resources Board certifications. He said the Elkhart plant is slated to produce 20,000 cars a year, though it could be expanded for more if the demand is there. The car will sell for $35,000 in the U.S., though federal tax credits and state rebates could knock that down.
Think fleet
"There are multiple reasons why our cars make a lot of sense for fleet sales," Engle told me. "The low operating costs of two cents a mile makes sense for fleet operators, and their usage pattern is in line -- fleets operate cars on fixed routes, and they can come back to a central facility with charging. Range anxiety becomes moot. Also, maintenance is easier -- there are no tuneups to worry about."
Another factor, he said, is that fleets often do their own servicing (after training), so Think's lack of a service network won't hurt much. Today, Think has only an Indianapolis-based service center capable of servicing the state.
The prospect of big-box sales are intriguing. According to Engle, "We've made a lot of new friends lately, and we're looking at non-traditional opportunities to market the vehicle." Selling cars alongside, say, consumer electronics would be a new model, but Engle said Think and other startups aren't burdened with a bricks-and-mortar dealer network that would bristle at other forms of competition.
Think electric cars at, say, Best Buy
"It would be hard for the established OEMs to enter into this kind of business model," Engle said, "but we have a clean sheet of paper [in the U.S., anyway; Think has dealers in Europe]. The best distribution model we see is a hybrid leveraging of the old methods and some really cool concepts on the front end -- electric vehicles can become the ultimate consumer electronic."
So look for a big announcement there, probably in the really big parking lot of a flagship store.
Think has sold a total of 2,500 of its new model Think in Europe, but the company has a long history that includes a brief Ford ownership. Believe it or not, Think has 10,000 cars on European roads, making it probably the largest operating EV fleet anywhere. The cars have logged 35 million miles.
Engle says, "We're not selling vaporware. We have vehicles on the road, which nobody else has. We know how they act, and we understand the technology. Now we're just anxious to grow the business, though 2,500 sales is a nice first step."
Indiana leads the way
Think calls its sales to Indiana a milestone, making it the first company to deliver a U.S.-made advanced-battery EV to fleet customers. A few qualifiers there. The Thinks will be used by the state Department of Natural Resources for duty in the parks and elsewhere. Governor Mitch Daniels, a possible GOP presidential contender, declared that Indiana "believes in the coming era of electric cars."
I asked the very busy Engle what there is to do in Oslo at night, and he said, "work. It's not easy starting a new car business, so at night in Norway I work and deal with the U.S. market."
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Photo: Think