Think gets EU-wide approval for EV sales

Oslo, Norway’s Think Global secured today a certification to allow it to sell its electric vehicle, the Th!nk City, in all European countries.

Netherlands-based testing and certification authority RDW issued the highway-safe passenger car, or M1, designation. The certification was the first for an EV under the new Pan European Type Approval, which is aiming to improve upon the previous country-by-country approval necessary for carmakers.

”We had to go through the same paperwork over and over for every single country, and that took time and money,” said Think spokeswoman Katinka von der Lippe in an interview with the Cleantech Group. ”With this, all of Europe is opening up to us. It speeds our time to market.”

Dutch Minister of Transport Camiel Eurlings issued the certificate to Think in the Hague today. Think plans to sell 500 of the City vehicles in the Netherlands through a partnership with ElmoNet, a subsidiary of Mobility Service Netherlands (see Think goes Dutch).

The Netherlands expects to announce a plan to encourage the adoption of clean cars before the summer, Eurlings said.

Think initially sold the Th!nk City solely in Norway but said it plans to roll out the vehicle in "EV-friendly cities" starting this year. Think has secured the approval to sell the City vehicle in a number of European countries this year, including Spain and Austria. U.S. sales are slated for 2010 (see Think delays U.S. expansion plans to mid-2010).

Think’s Norwegian factory has a production capacity of 16,000 cars per year, and the company is narrowing down sites in the U.S. to build another facility that would double its production capacity (see Think says U.S. electric car market is overtaking Europe). The City can reach 65 miles per hour and travel up to 112 miles on a charge.

”The M1 certification means it’s like any other passenger car. You have a movement towards clean cars as the normal,” von der Lippe said. ”For so many years we’ve been on the outskirts, but now finally you the see the EV being at the center.”

See the Th!nk City here »

The European Union created the Pan European Type Approval to prevent trade barriers within its member countries while establishing consistent standards for safety and environmental impact.

RDW tested 40 directives, including crashes, brakes, lighting, and emissions. Think also secured CE marking for the vehicle’s electric appliances.

The certification—introduced on May 1—allows the City to be registered in each European member state without additional national tests or approvals, Think said.

“A Pan European certification makes the paperwork so much easier,” Richard Canny, CEO of Think, said in a release. “The new harmonized directive is another sign that regulation bodies are seeing the importance of making EVs more easily available to the customers throughout Europe.”

The news comes amid Think’s turnaround in 2009.

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 allowed it to raise permanent equity capital and return to volume production of the Th!nk City vehicle (see Think secures interim financing to restart EV production).

In March, Think said that leading cleantech investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers took an ownership stake in Think North America, which plans to apply for loans from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program that are also being sought by Tesla Motors (see Tesla Motors on an upswing?).

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