THINK broadens market approach with new electric vehicles

The THINK Compact van follows later this year. With an increased capacity of 900-litres and designed as part of a large tender for fleet sales to the French Government’s UGAP program, this is an interesting product to many other markets, with several enquiries from potential Spanish customers and others already.

This represents a new and broader market approach from THINK, with a line-up of specialist delivery electric vehicles based on the popular THINK City, demonstrating both the versatility of this platform and further reinforcing the urban focus of the brand. More variants are actively under consideration, providing the market delivers the anticipated demand in this emerging segment.

Barry Engle, CEO THINK, said: “We see great potential for a range of electric vans based on the THINK City. There are many customers for this type of vehicle, from city authorities to small businesses and postal deliveries. These short hop, urban journeys are perfect for vehicles such as ours. Demand in this segment is increasing across the world, it is an area of the market that has yet to attract strong competition and could deliver valuable scale economies to a niche player like THINK.”

He added: “We made huge progress in 2010 with the development of the THINK City, the start of production in the US, and entry into new markets. We will step up the pace even further in 2011, developing THINK’s appeal with products such as the delivery vans, building our distribution network and focusing more resources on sales and marketing to increase market penetration.”

THINK’s entry into this new segment comes on the back of a series of product updates and enhancements completed over the course of the last 12 months. In 2010 the company introduced the first THINK City 2+2 model, the new fourth generation EV drive controller technology, air conditioning as standard across all markets, ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) as standard, homologation for sale in the U.S. and during the first month of 2011, a new delivery van series.

THINK is the world’s leading dedicated electric vehicle manufacturer, a position developed and proven over 20 years. This heritage gives THINK a head start with having put nearly 10,000 electric vehicles on the road and accumulated more than 35 million road miles of customer experience. The THINK City, the first electric car to be granted pan–European regulatory safety approval, is sold across Europe, with sales and production in the U.S. and operations being developed in Asia.

THINK is also a leader in electric drive train technology, and was the first to offer a modular and flexible electric drive-train solution in the business-to-business sector. With its Scandinavian origins and sustainability mindset, THINK is one of the most carbon-efficient car companies in the world.

www.thinkev.com