Affordable Electric Cars Coming to US in 2009
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While we love hearing about sweet rides like the $100K Tesla Roadster, a functional and economical electric car made for the rest of us would be even cooler.
This could be it: the Th!nk City electric car, a four-seater with 110 mile range and top speed of 65 mph, priced under $25,000, made from 95% recyclable materials, and available in the U.S. in 2009.
The Th!nk City electric car is the product of Norwegian firm Th!nk Global, an auto manufacturer backed by Silicon Valley funding who has plans to assemble the cars in Southern California. In contrast to Tesla’s limited release of 300 cars per year, the Th!nk City is designed for mass production to the tune of 30-50,000 units within a few years. Th!nk already produces about 10,000 of these cars in Europe annually.
As an interesting aside, Ford Motor Company originally developed the vehicle, but (in a move they may soon regret), sold it to Norwegian investors in 2003. Why is it so cool? Because most of us don’t drive more than 40 miles in a day, and small electric cars are optimally suited for congested city driving. The benefits are pretty obvious, but if you’re worried about getting out for the weekend with the Th!nk City, don’t. Use it for city driving and keep that gas-guzzling SUV for forays into the mountains. You’ll still come out ahead.
Safety-wise, the Th!nk City meets the strict safety requirements of both Europe and the US as a highway-safe road car. ABS brakes, airbags, side-impact bars, and an advanced frame designed to absorb energy and distribute it away from the passenger’s compartment make it another blow to the myth that bigger cars are inherently safer.
If recent sales trends toward smaller vehicles are any indication (sales of Toyota Yaris up 70%), the Th!ink city could be very popular when released in the US.
Check out a few more pictures (below), and learn more from Th!nk’s website.
Addendum: Are plug-in electric vehicles a perfect answer to our transportation problems? I think you’ll see from the comments below that no, they aren’t. As one reader pointed out, dead batteries in the Th!nk City could take up to 10 hours to charge. That’s not only inconvenient, but putting 50,000 of these on the road could cause serious power draw (see Plug-In Hybrids Could Require 160 New Power Plants By 2030 (Or None At All and Plug-In Hybrids Use Over 17 Times More Water Than Regular Cars, Researchers Say). Since such a large portion of US power generation comes from coal, the increasing use of plug-in hybrid and electric cars will require serious consideration of other energy sources (for example, see How Solar Panels Could Power 90% of US Transportation).
Related Posts on Electric Cars:
- An Electric Car You Can Buy Today: The $20K TRIAC EV
- Aptera’s $26,000 Electric Car and 300 MPG Hybrid Coming Soon
- Tesla Motors Sues Fisker Automotive Over Electric Car Design
- Tesla’s First Electric Vehicle, 2008 Roadster, Now Under Production
- Subaru Unleashes R1e Electric Car on New York
- Chevy Volt’s Lithium-Ion Batteries Road- Tested By Month’s End
- Get 120 MPG Out of Your Prius (Plug It In)
- The Sporty Future of Electrics Cars: the Lightning GT
Photo Credits: Th!nk
A great idea. We live in a torrid climate. Can they be air conditioned?
I can’t wait to get my hands on one!
I think the world has forgotten exactly what “affordable” means. Just because someone will give me a loan for 20K to buy one of these things doesn’t mean I can afford it. I make a pretty good salary, but there’s no way I’m going to pay that much money for a car this size that goes the distance reported. There’s no way it costs that much to produce it. I think 10K is a lot more afforadable and reasonable. Really, when it comes down to whether I’m going to buy a 20K car or be able to afford my weekly trips to the farmer’s market and food co-op, the food’s gonna win, simply because I can’t eat my car.
I think the design of the car could be easily modified so that the battery could be robotically swapped out for a fully charged battery at a filling station in a matter of minutes. So, you could easily have your spontaneous cross-country trips. You would still have to stop more often to tend to the car, but a rest every 2 hours is desirable on a road trip anyway.
BTW, with this car, you won’t need a rainbow bumper sticker on the back.
I’ve seen, on a couple of TV magazine shows, where relatively inexperienced individuals have transformed old, used American cars that had blown gas engines into electric cars for something considerably less than ten thousand dollars.
I don’t understand why these individuals and many more like them aren’t doing this and selling them to the general public. I’ll bet if you parked say a used, converted Chevy Cavalier on the street or in a parking lot with a sign on it saying “For Sale, Electric Car Conversion,” it would create tremendous attention and quite a few sales. I can see used car lots full of converted cars.
Take a used car, convert it to electric, put it into excellent mechanical shape, and sell it to average people for a truly reasonable price. What a concept!
We should follow Israels idea. They are settimg up battery exchange stations throughout the country where you simply switch battery packs rather than fill up with gas. This is similar to a cell phone contract and you can switch with your battery provider at that specific “station”. This allows for long trips without worry.
Why can’t the motion of the drive train be hooked up to an alternator to maintain battery charge for extended distances?
I just read on the Th!nk website that the car will cost more like 31k. And it’s not made out of 95 percent recycled materials, it IS 95 percent recyclable and made out of 16 percent recycled material. still super cool though. can’t wait until 2010 for all these great new cars!!!
This thing just looks stupid. When I see it I will most certainly LMFAO.
I saw a Porsche 944 EV with a ICE powered trailer for long trips.