Some of us may remember the Ford Think City...or at least seen it on "Who Killed the Electric Car." Well it's back, but only in Europe :( Now Ford claims to have been unable to sell enough of these EVs back in the early millennium, but apparently the City has been "rebuilt." Check out these stats...
It can reach 68 miles an hour and has a cruising range of 100 to 110 miles, roughly double the earlier vehicle. It takes 12 hours to fully recharge the battery from a 110-volt wall outlet. It will sell for about $30,000 in Europe (the company Web site says “around $31,388”).
According to this article, Think has a sizable contract with Ener1 as their battery source. These guys have been at the front of the development for Li-ion technology for a while, and they seem to be making some progress.
So back to the bad news...they are currently only in Europe. But, a North American branch of the company opened last year and will hopefully be announcing a US entry date for their vehicles early next year. They also have hopes to open up an assembly plant in the US, which is actually pretty good news.
Personally, I think that the more competition for EVs manufacturers, the better. I would be highly disappointed if one of the major car companies came out with the first all electric highway speed vehicle that was practical for American families (got to have more than two seats, I may not have kids but I have dogs and I need some space!). We need some new companies keeping them in check, making sure that the newest technology is being implemented.
