Th!nk Plans Stateside Factory

Th!nk, a Norwegian electric-vehicle maker, has announced ambitious plans to bring volume production to the U.S. 

Th!nk wants to build a factory in Michigan or one of seven other states that would produce its EV. The vehicle, called Th!nk City, is a two- to four-passenger city vehicle that’s similar in size to a Smart car. The City can reach a top speed of 65 miles per hour and can drive up to 112 miles on a single charge.

To make the City extra eco-friendly, the body is made of recyclable plastic body panels, and the interior is fully recyclable. The vehicle has already met U.S. safety regulations and is safe to drive on the highway.

The proposed factory and technical center would create 370 white- and blue-collar jobs and would be projected to build 16,600 Th!nk City cars a year. If demand warranted, 600 more people could be hired to produce a maximum of 60,000 a year.

If these plans sound a bit outlandish to you, take solace in the fact that Th!nk has essentially made the same vehicle for 17 years, so the bugs should be worked out by now. At one time, this little car was on sale in California as the Ford Th!nk. The company plans to tap the Department of Energy’s $25 billion fund for clean-vehicle technology.

For people who still think Th!nk is too good to be true, it still might be. Since the automaker’s inception, it has gone bankrupt twice. Now under new ownership, the company has again fallen on hard times. According to Reuters, in December 2008 Th!nk was under immense financial distress, had laid off 50% of its workers and had halted production at its sole factory. Since then, it has managed to find financing and call back its laid-off employees.

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