Think Resumes Production of Think City EV

10 December, 2009 06:39:00

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Electric vehicle maker THINK has re-started production of the THINK City â€“ one of the worldâ€™s first urban EVs â€“ at a new facility with manufacturing partner Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland.

The start of production at Valmet Automotive also marks a new start for THINK, which has made significant progress since announcing its re-capitalisation earlier this year with major new investors coming on board.

Valmet is one of the investors that helped THINK to raise $47 million in capital this summer to exit court protection in Norway.

The THINK City is the world’s first EV to be granted certification with the European CE conformity mark and EU homologation requirements (M1 certificate). To achieve these exacting standards, the THINK City has been through extensive testing and validation and several hundred computer simulations and correlations.

Sales of the THINK City have started in selected key EV markets such as Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with first fleet deliveries due to start before Christmas. The majority of THINK sales in these countries have been made to municipal authorities and utility partners, supported by government incentives.

The Norwegian automaker stopped output at its factory in Aurskog, near Oslo, in the second quarter as a result of the financial crisis.

“The order bank stands at around 2,300 vehicles, and our first priority is to deliver to these customers now that our vehicles are rolling off the production line again. Our next priority is to build on this order book with continued expansion in Europe and around the world,” said CEO Richard Canny.

Valmet Automotive is a provider of engineering and manufacturing services to the automotive industry and recently became a THINK shareholder and strategic industrial partner. Today marks the start of production at Valmet Automotive’s high-tech manufacturing base, which also produces Garia and Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid as well as Porsche AG’s Boxster and Cayman.

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