Think Nordic

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Think Nordic is a battery electric vehicle company located in Aurskog, Norway, manufacturing cars under the Think brand.

PIV3, the City Bee

The company was originally founded December 1991 in Oslo, as Pivco (for Personal Independent Vehicle Company). The first practical prototype, the PIV2, like the vehicles that followed, were built around a chassis made of aluminium, carrying a body made of polyethylene thermoplastic that is rotomolded in one piece. 10 of a total of 15 prototypes were built in time for the Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games in 1994. The battery technology was NiCd, driving an three-phase AC induction motor via the front wheels.

The PIV2 was followed by the PIV3, the City Bee (Citi in the US), introduced in 1995. 120 of these were produced, 40 of which participated in the San Francisco Bay Area Station Car Demonstration project from 1995 to 1998.

Based on the experiences from the prototypes, Pivco then went on to develop their first true production model, PIV4, later called the TH!NK, with Lotus Cars being used as consultants. The basic construction concept from the prototypes were retained, except that the roof was made of ABS plastic, and the lower frame chassis elements were made of steel. The production model had a range of up to 85 km between charges, and a top speed of 90 km/h.

TH!NK City

Development took more time and resources than anticipated, so when development of the production model was finished in 1999, finances had dried up. The company was then acquired by Ford, who could start production of the TH!NK City. Ford even embraced the TH!NK concept, and marketed an electrically driven bicycle as well as a golf carts under the same brand.

Production ceased in 2002, after a total of 1005 units had been made. Many of these cars participated in station car projects in California and in New York City.

Probably mainly due to changes in the California zero-emissions vehicle policy, Ford gave up Think on January 31, 2003. The company was sold to KamKorp Microelectronics of Switzerland, owned by Kamal Siddiqis. Development of a successor to the City was subsequently halted. The used cars from US and UK have been re-exported[1] to Norway where they are in high demand due to the government's policy to promote the use of electrical cars (EVs are exempt from taxes, have free parking, pass toll roads for free, and are allowed to drive in the bus lanes avoiding traffic congestions).

In 2004, the company turned its attention to development of the Think Public, a micro size electric bus to be rented to customers for inner city travel. By February 2006, prototypes of the vehicle had been developed, but the company went into receivership.

At the end of March 2006 Th!nk Nordic was acquired by Norwegian investment group InSpire, which includes the original founder Jan Otto Ringdal as a partner.

For the next year the Th!nk website showed a restyled "new Th!nk city" car which was under development. An open version of the car was also pictured but the company said it had no plans to put it into production.

The first production car was completed at the end of February 2007, according to Th!nk president Jan-Olaf Willums, speaking at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco.

In March 2007 a completely new website was posted, with many more images of the new car rendered into artist's impressions. This site is primarily in Norwegian, but an English summary page promises a full translation soon.

The English page says: "We are currently in the process of preparing the new TH!NK city for production in the fall of 2007. The new TH!NK city has ABS brakes, dual airbags, and meets all European and US safety requirements. It has a range of 170 km (106 miles), a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph) and has comfort and convenience features such as air conditioning, power steering, sun roof, electric windows and mirrors, and more."

Think has indicated via email that it will start selling the new version in the fourth quarter in Norway, followed by the first quarter of 2008 in England and second half of 2008 in the U.S. The March 2007 website says that the company is already taking orders in Norway and will announce its international plans on its English page.

A price list in Norwegian Kroner adds up to a total of NKR199,000 before optional features, which is approximately $32,500 US, or £16,600 UK, or 24,500 Euros. The battery pack will be leased rather than sold to purchasers. The fee will be NKR975 per month ($160, £81, EUR120).