The TH!NK City has always been one of the world's first highway-capable urban electric vehicles (EVs). It will NOW be available again in the U.S. later this year. THINK's investments in Elkhart County will support manufacturing capacity for more than 20,000 vehicles a year.

By: Seth Leitman

Courtesty of THINK EVs

The TH!NK City has always been one of the world's first highway-capable urban electric vehicles (EVs). It will NOW be available again in the U.S. later this year. THINK's investments in Elkhart County will support manufacturing capacity for more than 20,000 vehicles a year. The company started delivering the latest generation of its THINK City model to customers in Europe last month.

TH!NK will be working with its largest investor and Indianapolis-based lithium-ion battery maker, EnerDel and Ener1, the parent company of Enerdel (which is a 31% equity stakeholder in THINK) to develop the new production facility. With the combination of Enerdel, incentives provided by the State of Indiana and Elkhart County, THINK will also get funding from the U.S. Department of Energy ATVM loan program to establish its new production facility.

The THINK City is a purpose-built, all-electric car designed for urban environments. It can travel at highway speeds for more than 100 miles on a single charge with zero local emissions. It is the world's first EV to be granted certification with the European CE conformity mark and EU homologation requirements (M1 certificate). To achieve these exacting standards, the THINK City has been through extensive testing and validation and several hundred computer simulations and correlations.

TH!NK electric cars has already developed a European ally in its production of the THINK City in Finland. TH!NK is working with their manufacturing partner Valmet Automotive. Valmet also assembles the Porsche Boxster and Cayman models for Porsche AG. This will support the European market demand, where sales have begun in selected key EV markets such as Austria, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

THINK CEO Richard Canny, said: "We are extremely pleased to announce plans for a second THINK production location today. Things are moving very swiftly for the company in Europe following the start of production in Finland and the subsequent start of sales at the end of last year. Now its time for us to do the same in the North American market - and there's no better place to start than Indiana."

He continued: "Indiana is quickly becoming an international leader in advanced, clean technology manufacturing. It's an industry with a future, and EV's are right in the center of the convergence of where the auto and energy sectors are heading. We're proud to be part of this effort to reinvent and reinvest in U.S. auto manufacturing."