Electric Co-op Today

DETROIT—Here in the birthplace of the muscle car, the Think City seems out of place. It’s hard to imagine the Little Old Lady from Pasadena trading in her super-stock Dodge for this two-seater from Norway. But with V8s getting the cold shoulder in favor of fuel efficiency, you can’t beat the Think City—it doesn’t even use gasoline.

Electric Co-op Today reporter Michael W. Kahn tries out the Norwegian Think City. (Photo By: Electric Co-op Today)

The pure electric import was one of several unconventional vehicles on display during The Business of Plugging In conference here, and Electric Co-op Today took it for a test drive.

Turn the key and there’s no “vroom,” just silence. But it was on, it was charged and it was ready to go.

The “test track” was the roof of a hotel garage—hardly the place to verify the company’s claim that the car can go from zero to 50 in 16 seconds. But it was just as well to skip the freeway.

“The top speed on this vehicle is 62 mph,” explained Brendan Prebo, director of marketing at ASG Renaissance, Think’s American public relations firm. When U.S. sales begin next year, the car will be able to do 75 mph.

Recharging the sodium nickel chloride battery takes 8–10 hours at 220 volts. Lithium-ion batteries will be primarily used in U.S. models. Both are good for about 100 miles on a charge.

The first Think City came out in 2008, and Prebo said there are about 500 on the roads of Europe, with orders in for another 2,500. In America, the plan is to start with fleet sales and by 2012 focus more on retail.

As for the test drive, the Think City handled well and has fairly good pickup. Not only is it quiet, it’s surprisingly roomy for a car that’s barely 123 inches long. For a quick trip to the supermarket, this might be fine. But for the 500-mile trip home, a seat on a 737 was looking a lot better.

Tags: Electric Vehicles