Think says U.S. electric car market is overtaking Europe

Oslo, Norway's electric car maker Think announced today that it's choosing between eight U.S. states, including Michigan, as the site for its first American factory for full speed electric cars.

The plant is expected to initially produce 16,000 Think City vehicles a year and employ 300 workers, but the automaker noted that it hopes to ramp to 60,000 vehicles and 900 workers. U.S. production is slated for 2010, with about 2,500 cars to be produced that year (see Think delays U.S. expansion plans to mid-2010).

The factory is also expected to serve as a technical center for Think, with about 70 engineers and electric drive specialists. 

“The U.S. is quickly overtaking Europe as an attractive market for EVs and is an ideal location to engineer and build EVs,” said Think CEO Richard Canny in a news release.  “We see ourselves playing a small but potentially growing role in re-inventing the U.S. auto industry by bringing back new manufacturing jobs to the U.S. to replace internal combustion engine vehicles.”

Think also said today that leading cleantech investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has taken an ownership stake in the electric automaker. Think Global has raised $85 million to date from DFJ Element, Rockport Capital Partners, British Hazel Capital and CG Capital (see China clean coal IPO). 

Think North America plans to apply for loans from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program against other electric carmakers including Tesla Motors (see Tesla Motors on an upswing?).

The Think City, which is in production in Europe, can reach 65 miles per hour and travel up to 112 miles on a charge. Think had planned to expand to the North American and European markets in 2009, doubling production to 10,000 vehicles a year (see Think electric cars coming to North America). The Norwegian facility has a production capacity of 16,000 cars per year. 

In December, Think halted production because of money problems: the credit crunch made it hard to raise capital and parts suppliers were demanding upfront payments. Think announced plans to lay off more than half its 250 employees if a funding source wasn't secured by mid-January, estimating it needed about 80 million kroner ($40 million) from the government in the form of loan guarantees, credit or capital (see Think halts electric car production, plans layoffs). 

But in January, Think secured interim financing of NOK 40 million ($5.7 million) to restructure the company, which could allow it to raise permanent equity capital and return to volume production of the Think City vehicle (see Think secures interim financing to restart EV production).

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