EVLN(Think EV powered by new business model)
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--- {EVangel}
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=21709&hed=Recharged+Runabout&sector=Ind\
ustries&subsector=Energy
Recharged Runabout March 26, 2007 By Jennifer Kho
Think electric car returns, powered by new business model.

Think Nordic
LOCATION Aurskog, Norway
URL www.think.no
SECTOR Other
FOUNDED 1973 (but re-launched in 2006)
PRESIDENT Jan-Olaf Willums
EMPLOYEES 41
FUNDING $32.7 million, 1 round

KEY INVESTORS Wintergreen Partners, Canica, Sundt Invest, Home
Invest, Andre Heinz, and founding shareholders Alf Bjorseth
(founder of REC and another of our RH 100s, Norsun), Jan-Olaf
Willums, Reidar Langmo, and Jan Otto Ringdal (and original
founder of Think)

Think Nordic has been around the block and back. The company
first introduced its cute two-seater electric cars in Europe in
1998, and made about 1,000 of them before Ford Motor bought the
company in 1999. Ford stopped production of the Think and sold
the subsidiary in 2003. Switzerland's Kamkorp Microelectronics
bought Think, hoping to develop a car with motors in the wheels,
but it ran out of money, according to Jan-Olaf Willums, Think
Nordic's President. Last year, Norwegian investors led by Mr.
Willums, chair of green investment firm InSpire Invest (and
former head of Volvo Petroleum), bought the company.

Now, Think is ready to start where Ford stopped. Ford spent $150
million to give Think drivers the safety of a larger car, with
centralized batteries, a motor that slides under the car in a
crash, and wheels that crumple outward, Mr. Willums says. The car
is safe, low-maintenance, and green—it's 96 percent recyclable.
And it will be low-cost, because its steel chassis is covered
with a plastic body that doesn't need painting, he says.

Then there's Think's business model. High battery costs have kept
electric cars from the mainstream. But Think will exclude
batteries from the purchase price, and charge drivers a monthly
fee to "rent" them instead of buying fuel. That way, the car can
price around $16,000 to $17,000, and drivers will pay less per
month than they'd spend on fuel and maintenance for a regular
car, Mr. Willums says. Think also will use part of the fee to
offset carbon emitted from the electricity the cars use.

Think began producing cars in February, and plans to make 400
this year in Norway. It will make 3,500 next year and begin
exports to European countries such as France, Italy, Switzerland,
and the Netherlands, as well as to the United States. It also
plans to introduce a four-seater as early as 2009, and produce
20,000 cars annually.

Of course, the car industry is notoriously difficult to enter.
Think would compete with other small cars, including the Toyota
Yaris and the DaimlerChrysler Smart Car, which are cheaper and
serve as primary cars. Most Think drivers will also want a
conventional car in case they need to drive farther than 100
miles (the farthest distance the Think can go on one charge),
says Alliance Bernstein analyst Saurin Shah. In a few years,
Think hopes to produce a primary car: a plug-in hybrid to give
drivers the option of charging or filling up.

But Gartner analyst Thilo Koslowski says Think has big potential.
"Consumers have heard of the Think brand, and that's important,"
he says. "People want to work with a company that's been around
longer and that has this expertise."

Think is betting that enough drivers will be lured by the
environmental benefits and fuel savings to make the venture
worthwhile. Considering the success of the $100,000 electric
Tesla Roadster, the time could be right for Think.

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http://www.aftenposten.no/english/business/article1685413.ece

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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter

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