105

oem interview: th!nk

Th!nk again
Words: Karl Vadaszffy

After being dropped by Ford, Th!nk is once again flourishing,

with desirable products and technologies set to hit the market

Richard Blundell, the vice president for

international business development at
Th!nk hopes that the introduction of the
City (right) will sway more buyers to EVs

n Four years ago, no-one

would have predicted the electric
vehicle to have been a part of
future transportation. Hybrids
were in full flow, and the talk
was of fuel cells, and hydrogen
economies, leading Ford to back
out of Th!nk, the electric car
company established by Pivco
in Norway in 1990.
Bankruptcy followed, but in
2006, Th!nk was given a reprieve
when a group of Norwegian
private investors bought the
technology developer.
According to Richard Blundell,
vice president of international
business development for Th!nk
Global and Th!nk UKs managing
director, part of the reason why
Th!nk is on the comeback is
because the company believes
the auto industry will have to
turn to electric cars to achieve
true sustainable transportation.
Blundells vision is very clear:
making electric vehicles popular
and commercially feasible is the
way forward, and the all-new
Th!nk City will be the worlds
first commercially available
plug-in electric car, capable of
traveling for 180km (112.5
miles) on a single charge and
reaching a maximum speed of
100km/h (62mph). The vehicle
will roll off assembly lines this
month for use by a select group
in Norway, where the companys
HQ is based, as a means of
testing. Feedback on software,
operating systems, and car and
battery performance will be
monitored before the car is
launched across European
markets. Th!nk engineers will
homologate the car a two-seater
with what Blundell terms a twoplus-two option as the folding
seats in the rear can safely
accommodate two small children.
The Canadian-born, Londonbased MD openly admits that the

2008 | Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology

106

OEM interview: Th!nk

City life
There is no equal, Richard Blundell says of Th!nk city. When
asked about GMs Volt (below) and Nissans Mixim, he is
quick to say they arent the same: Those cars are plug-in
hybrids and are not expected to come into the market for at
least three years, depending on battery technology. They have
plans to produce cars, but they dont have any cars that are
commercially available today, certainly not plug-in, fully
electric cars. Were way ahead.
The Th!nk man is also quick to dismiss claims that Indian
rival Reva is a competitive product: Reva is a Quadra cycle,
totally different. The real difference is that Th!nk city is a real
car. It can travel at high speeds on highways and can safely
absorb an impact,
whereas the Reva is not
a homologated car, is
not crash tested, and
doesnt have the same
safety characteristics as
our car. Indeed, several
crash tests have already
been made on the City.

biggest engineering challenge

when tasked with developing
a fully electric car is the battery.
Th!nks choice in this area is the
Zebra battery (sodium nickel
chloride) produced by Swiss
company MES-DEA. Its a solid
and proven technology, Blundell
explains, that weve had a long
relationship with its essentially
table salt.
We understand the chemistry
and the battery performance
much better than any of the
other lithium technologies. It has
quite a history of testing and use
as an automotive product. The
Zebra battery solution offers a
long life and a surprisingly short
charge time of up to 10 hours for
a full cycle, although Blundell
argues that drivers using the car
in an urban setting (the average
daily commute in the UK, for
instance, is 13 miles) would

Th!nk City has been described as a 2+2, with ample room for two children in the rear

rarely find the opportunity to

drain the battery and should just
top-up for a couple of hours.
But while the Zebra battery is
in currently favour at Th!nk, it
would seem it wont be too long
before the Nordic high-tech
electric vehicle developer turns
to lithium-ion and lithiumpolymer technologies, which
Blundell believes will be
commercialized in the next 12
months: Those chemistries are
lighter weight and have higher
energy densities. Were interested
in investigating the performance,
durability and safety. As a sign
of commitment to doing this,
Th!nk has signed a development
agreement for a lithium-polymer
that is called EnerDel. The goal
of the company is to be battery
agnostic so we will look to
get the chemistries for the
requirements of the automobiles
based on use, explains the
47-year-old.
Blundell cant say much about
future product developments but
he promises an announcement
next year detailing what will

The City currently makes use of a Zebra battery produced by MES-DEA, however, lithium-ion may be an option for the car in the future

Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology | 2008

follow the city urban car. In

fact, Blundell refers to the future
as being bright for EVs, with
Th!nk having the solution to
emission-free transport: To work
in an environmentally sound
manner with all the climate
change issues we have to address
as a planet, we see this as the
most environmentally sound and
conducive technology for the
alleviation of some of the urban
congestion and pollution,
including odour and noise
issues. And along with being
environmentally friendly, Th!nk
City will also be fun, promises
Blundell: You have a better
transfer of power from the source
onto the road and theres much
more torque.
Th!nk is not yet ready to reveal
price details of the City. The
battery is the most expensive
piece of equipment in the car,
explains Blundell, but the
company will own the battery,
which alleviates all uncertainty
related to it, and will replace it
when it needs to be replaced.
The owners of the car will pay
a monthly mobility fee, and the
maintenance or replacements
will all be the responsibilities of
Th!nk. And as the technology
improves and as the deployment
of batteries is accelerated into the
market place, costs will drop:
Th!nk will be one of the primary
proponents to driving down
costs because it will be a very
large user of battery technology.
Its been a roller coaster ride
for Th!nk, but for Blundell, the
company is now set to make an
impact on the automotive world:
I do not know what the Ford
vision of Th!nk was, but ours
is a very unique vision from
every aspect; from production
through to distribution through
to retailing. E&H