A few weeks ago we reported Norwegian automaker, THINK, was in bankruptcy, and pundits were saying this was the end – well apparently they thought wrong.

According to Automotive News, the small city car maker is in the advanced stages of negotiations with Turkey-based BD Otomotive, an investment group, wishing to bring the brand into Turkish ownership.

“Our intentions are simple – to bring THINK out of bankruptcy and make it the affordable urban EV for Europe it was always designed to be,” said BD Otomotive Chairman Osman Boyner in a statement. “We have the manufacturing capabilities and sales network to do this, and combined with a core group of retained Think talent in Norway, we aim to launch new platforms and the next generation of vehicles if successful in our bid.”

While Turkey may not be commonly thought of as an auto industry stronghold, it reportedly exported over 754,000 cars and trucks built on license for major OEMs including Toyota, Renault, Ford, and FIAT.

As for BD Otomotive, it said it owns and operates production facilities in Turkey and Italy involved with converting fuel-powered light commercial vehicles into electric vehicles. It is also in the business of automotive battery pack assembly and has a recycling plant for lithium ion and other industrial batteries.

The group said it has also invested in EV charging infrastructure, owns and operates charging stations across Turkey and is a distributor of Fisker Automotive’s plug-in hybrids and BYD plug-in cars.

BD Otomotove said it has completed its due diligence, and its board of directors has approved the transaction’s approval through the Norwegian court-appointed law firm trustee Thommessen.

Thommessen has responsibility for managing all of the assets for THINK Global AS, including a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary THINK North America, which has an EV production plant in Elkhart, Ind.

Only 33 the U.S. version of THINK’s mini electric vehicle called the City were sold in 2010. Worldwide, the company recorded 1,043 units sold in 2010. Sales for 2011 have not been made public.

“THINK delivered 33 THINK City cars to customers in Indiana in December 2010,” said THINK North American spokesman, Brendan Prebo. “These were included in the total units sold that year. We have not released sales figures for 2011 yet.”

Questions remaining

The big question is what is THINK thinking?

This is not the first time it has filed for bankruptcy and the company has never been very stable since sold by Ford in 2003.

The company’s one U.S. product was a tiny 100-mile range, 68-mph top speed EV that cost more than a nice Acura – or compared to its nearest competitor, it was priced $3,700 over the Nissan LEAF.

We have no idea what plans are for the U.S., and how this will play out overall should it come to fruition – nor did THINK North America have any comments to help shed light on the subject.

“THINK North America is not involved in the bankruptcy process nor negotiations with potential buyers or investors,” Prebo said, “therefore I can’t comment on what the result of these ongoing negotiations will be.”

Prebo did say the U.S. production plant is not completely sidelined at this juncture.

“We are currently not in production in Elkhart, however the plant has not closed,” he said.

BD Otomotive says it is a distributor for the pending and limited-production Fisker Karma and BYD plug-in cars. Would the company attempt to make the THINK into more of a volume seller?

Since THINK is accused of owing $35.4 million to its former battery supplier, will BD Otomotive use a new battery from its own production capabilities, and market it in Europe only? Its statement above said nothing about North America, but did say it wishes to fulfill its perception of the City’s original intent and make it an affordable car in Europe.

Would the Turkish buyers decide to liquidate THINK’s U.S. subsidiary to fortify its financial strength, perhaps offering the City as a lower priced Euro-only car? Or will the new investors continue to build on the U.S. foothold already established?

And regardless what plans are, will this company that has crashed and been revived so many times finally be enabled to fly under new ownership?

We shall see.

Automotive News (subscription req’d.), All Cars Electric.

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The maker of one of the electric vehicles anticipated for launch later this year filed bankruptcy yesterday in its home market of Norway.

This is the fourth time in its 20-year history Think Global AS has run out of sufficient operating capital.

“We needed some additional funding and although we had interested investors they were not able to come to the table quickly enough,” Think spokesman James Andrew told Automotive News Europe.

The bad financial news follows the announcement early May by Ener1, the supplier of Think’s prismatic battery cells, that it was severing relations.

Yesterday Edmunds reported Manhattan-based Ener1 said in a government filing Think owes it $35.4 million, and suggested Think would be liquidating its assets.

Ener1 also told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was not holding out hope that it would recover the full amount due it, and “this amount is subject to change to the extent that we receive any recovery as a result of the liquidation of Think Global,” Ener1 said, “we presently believe that any such recovery, to the extent it occurs at all, is not likely to be significant.”

Think’s spokesman declined to tell Automotive News Europe how much cash the company needed to stay afloat.

One car

Think’s single vehicle, the City minicar, sold just 1,043 units in 2010 in Europe, and production has been stopped since March this year.

At the time the reason given was for stopping assembly at its factory run by a contract manufacturer and Think investor Valmet Automotive’s factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland, was to re-balance its inventory.

Former U.S. plans

Think’s minimalist, plastic skinned EV was due in North America sometime later this year.

I had opportunity to drive one around a few blocks in Washington, D.C. a couple months ago, and it was a neat little city car, with decent acceleration, and interior space utilization, if not pricey.

The company had edged up its expected selling price to $36,495 , which was $4,000 over the larger, better appointed Nissan LEAF. Like the LEAF, it would have been eligible for subsidies, which would have reduced consumers’ total net outlay.

Sinking ship

The first contract agreement in October 2007 between Ener1 and Think called for the EnerDel battery subsidiary to deliver production prototypes in March 2008 and pre-production parts in July 2008.

The goal then was that Think would sell enough cars for two years ending 2010, allowing let Ener1 to sell $70 million worth of its batteries.

Ener1 reportedly invested $90 million based on this promise and hope for sales of as much as $200 million in the longer term.

The trail of unfulfilled plans ended yesterday as a court-appointed trustee from Oslo-based commercial law firm Thommessen took control of Think.

The trustee will manage Think’s assets including those of Think North America, a wholly owned subsidiary with an EV production plant in Elkhart, Ind.

Because the North American company is supported by the Norwegian company, its future is in doubt.

Think almost went down in 2008 with the global financial crisis, but restarted production late 2009 with help from new investors. The company had a hard time keeping its head above water ever since it was sold by Ford Motor Co., which had owned it from mid-1999-January 2003.

Reports are this is a case of four strikes and they’re out. We shall see whether the company can be rescued again, or not.

Sources: Automotive News, Edmunds

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The maker of one of the electric vehicles anticipated for launch in North America later this year filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in its home market of Norway.

This is the fourth time in its 20-year history Think Global AS has run out of sufficient operating capital.

“We needed some additional funding and although we had interested investors they were not able to come to the table quickly enough,” Think spokesman James Andrew told Automotive News Europe.

The bad financial news follows the announcement early May by Ener1, the supplier of Think’s prismatic battery cells, that it was severing relations with Think.

Yesterday Edmunds reported Manhattan-based Ener1 declared in a government filing that Think owes it $35.4 million, and suggested Think would be liquidating its assets.

Ener1 also told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was not holding out hope for recovering the full debt, and “this amount is subject to change to the extent that we receive any recovery as a result of the liquidation of Think Global,” Ener1 said, “we presently believe that any such recovery, to the extent it occurs at all, is not likely to be significant.”

Think’s spokesman declined to tell Automotive News Europe how much cash the company needed to stay afloat.

One car

Think’s single electric vehicle, the City minicar, sold just 1,043 units in 2010 in Europe, and production has been stopped since March this year.

At the time the reason given for stopping assembly at its factory run by a contract manufacturer and Think investor Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland, was to re-balance its inventory.

Former U.S. plans

Think’s minimalist, plastic-skinned EV was due in North America sometime later this year.

I had opportunity to drive one around a few blocks in Washington, D.C. a couple months ago, and it was a neat little city car, with decent acceleration, and interior space utilization, if not pricey.

The company had edged up its expected MSRP to $36,495, which was $4,000 over the larger, better appointed Nissan LEAF. Like the LEAF, it would have been eligible for subsidies, which would have reduced consumers’ total net outlay.

Sinking ship

The first contract agreement in October 2007 between Ener1 and Think called for its EnerDel battery subsidiary to deliver production prototypes in March 2008 and pre-production parts in July 2008.

The goal then was that Think would sell enough cars for two years ending 2010, allowing Ener1 to sell $70 million worth of its batteries.

Ener1 reportedly invested $90 million based on this promise and hope for sales of as much as $200 million in the longer term.

The trail of unfulfilled plans ended yesterday as a court-appointed trustee from Oslo-based commercial law firm Thommessen took control of Think.

The trustee will manage Think’s assets including those of Think North America, a wholly owned subsidiary with an EV production plant in Elkhart, Ind.

Because the North American division is supported by the Norwegian company, its future is in doubt.

Think almost went down in 2008 with the global financial crisis, but restarted production late 2009 with help from new investors. The company has had a hard time keeping its head above water ever since it was sold by Ford Motor Co., which had owned it from mid-1999-January 2003.

Reports are this is a case of four strikes and they’re out. We shall see whether the company can be rescued again, or not.

Sources: Automotive News, Edmunds

The post EV Maker Think Files for Bankruptcy appeared first on HybridCars.com.

A few months later, US-based Ener1—the parent company of battery-maker EnerDel— gave Think another lease on life by first granting a bridge loan and then agreeing to invest about $18 million and convert $3 million in debt into preferred shares of the automaker. Ener1 now holds 31 percent stake in the company.

EnerDel and Think also agreed to enter into a new long-term battery supply agreement as part of the transaction. EnerDel received certain exclusive rights for the supply of batteries for Think’s current and upcoming new electric vehicle models. Other investors include Finland’s Valmet Automotive—which builds Boxter and Cayman models for Porsche, and will manufacture the Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid.

Think Again

With those three pieces in hand—a vehicle, a battery pack, and a manufacturing facility—Think has moved production of the plastic-bodied Think City, capable of about 120 miles of range, to Valmet’s facility in Finland. The company is working to fill more than 2,000 orders of the car, and is aiming for annual production of 5,000 units—mostly for fleet customers. But this appears to be only the beginning of the big plans for the small electric car company.

Throughout much of 2009, Ener1 worked on a deal to find a US production facility, most likely in Indiana where Ener1 is headquartered. Think is promising to invest nearly $25 million in a new plant, and wants to build as many as 60,000 cars a year in the US.

There’s a ton of interest—and more importantly funding—for electric drive vehicles and lithium ion batteries in the US. In August, two weeks prior to completing the deal with Think, EnerDel received a $118.5 million federal grant to double the company’s capacity to produce lithium ion batteries in the Indiana. Think is applying for a US government loan for production of fuel-efficient vehicles, under the same program that benefited Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive.

The Big Picture, Really Big

Many analysts see slow but steady growth in the US electric car market—but competition from Nissan, General Motors, and Ford will make it difficult for Think to compete. For example, if the Nissan Leaf sells for about $30,000, Think would be forced to offer the smaller Think City coupe at a lower purchase price that could be difficult to manage with small-scale production.

However, Ener1 is apparently looking at a much bigger picture than selling a few thousand electric cars. It’s aiming to be a major player in the entire new energy ecosystem of electric utilities, smart grids, electric cars, and batteries—for both stationary and vehicle-based batteries.

In early December 2009, the battery maker announced that it will manufacture the lithium ion batteries for five one-megawatt power systems to be used by Portland General Electric in Oregon. “It will be the first time that electric vehicles, stationary grid storage, solar power and rapid charging infrastructure are combined in a real-world operating environment,” EnerDel said. The system will perform the critical duty of managing peak demand and smooth the variations in power from renewable sources such as wind and solar. It could also create a market for used electric car batteries after they have lost some of their capacity.

EnerDel is working on similar projects in Japan and Austria. The Japanese project, scheduled to come online in March 2010, will convert a handful of Mazda vehicles to use a 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack initially design for the Think City.

The post Think City appeared first on HybridCars.com.

To gain mainstream acceptance by mainstream car buyers, electric cars will face all kinds of real economic and technical challenges—such as limited driving range, hefty price premiums, and lack of charging stations. But a car company’s first task in marketing an electric car or plug-in hybrid is coming up with a name that gives a sense of a bold new step in automotive technology, yet one that is not too strange or off-putting.

EV-makers have shown mixed results based on a review of the upcoming crop of electric-drive vehicles.

Smart ED

When the folks from Daimler decided to add an electric drive to the diminutive Smart ForTwo, it was only too obvious to take the term “Electric Drive” and tack it on the end of the car’s name with the acronym, “E.D.” That was an unfortunate choice in the age of Viagra, especially for a wee car lacking a high horsepower engine. Daimler started production of the first 1,000 units in France last month, but hopefully the marketing guys in Stuttgart will man up to the oversight, and switch the name to “Smart EV” before bringing the car to the United States.

Nissan Leaf

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Sure, it’s a nice play on words for a car to help the world “turn over a new leaf” when it comes to cars, energy, and the environment. Of course, the leaf is one of nature’s ways of replenishing the air with fresh oxygen. But do high-tech early adopters really want to be driving…a Leaf? And what’s the plural, “Nissan Leaves?”

Th!nk OX

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In the past year, the car company called “Th!nk”—with an exclamation point instead of an “i”—has teetered back and forth over the precipice of bankruptcy. The company, resurrected by Valmet Automotive and battery-maker Ener1, recently resumed small-scale production of the Th!nk City in Finland. As if it’s not already confusing enough to figure out when to use an “i” or an exclamation point, the planned follow-up to the two-seat Th!nk City is the more practical Th!nk OX, an electric five-seat car crossover vehicle. That vehicle is pronounced “Oh-ex,” like the Mac operating system, not like the castrated male cattle used for plowing and transport.

Mitsubishi I-MiEV

In another case of acronym confusion, Mitsubishi named its egg-shaped 100-mile-range electric car based on a mashup of the company’s “i” minicar, and the “Mitsubishi in-wheel electric vehicle,” the abandoned previous iteration of the car that placed motors in the wheels. That became the “Mitsubishi innovative electric vehicle.” Consumers probably won’t care much about that naming history of the vehicle, but they will want to know how to pronounce its name. Our best sources say, “i-meev,” to rhyme with sleeve.

Plug-in hybrids aren’t immune to the naming conundrum. Fisker Automotive went spiritual on us with its Karma, even though the cosmic cycle of cause and effect can be positive or negative. Neighborhood electric vehicles from ZENN, or “Zero Emission No Noise,” also borrow from an eastern spiritual concept. The Canadian company recently stopped producing vehicles and will become one with selling electric drivetrains.

The Chevy Volt follows in a line of vehicles using electric methaphors, including the Toyota Volta hybrid supercar concept, the Tesla, the canceled Dodge Circuit, and the old-school Solectria Force. GM spun off a social networking website for the Volt called “Voltage,” which could be pronounced Volt Age. Of course, this opens the door to punster critics who might find the $40,000 price tag “revolting.”

The naming situation will only get worse as new models are introduced. It makes you nostalgic for the last generation of electric cars, which kept things very simple: GM’s EV1, Honda’s EVPlus, and Toyota’s RAV4 EV. In our estimation, the car company that has most successfully captured the best qualities of efficient hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles is Honda, with its Civic, Insight, and Clarity.

What’s your bright idea for a good electric car name?

The post For Electric Cars, What’s In a Name? appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Think CEO Richard Canny said the company will file an application for the DOE loan on March 31, but declined to say how much money the company will seek.

The Energy Department has already received 75 loan applications—seeking a total of $38 billion—and whittled down the pool to 25 for a second round of reviews. Money will only be given to companies that are considered “viable.” To demonstrate viability, Think’s announced that the company expects to start US production in 2010, with a first-year volume of 2,500 units going to demonstration fleets. They hope to build up to 900 employees and a capacity of 60,000 electric vehicles per year. Based on past performance, these plans are ambitious.

Ford poured more than $100 million into Think’s operation, when it owned the company from 1999 to 2003. Ford (and other automakers) fought against California’s mandate to sell electric cars during that period, and finally sold the company in 2003. Subsequently, Think spent about $120 million upgrading the Th!nk City—the same all-electric car that the company hopes to produce in the United States. Think was unable to produce and sell cars, or to otherwise generate enough working capital, pushing the company to the brink of extinction in December 2008. In Think’s entire history, it has produced fewer than 2,000 street-legal vehicles, according to Automotive News.

Since the end of Ford’s ownership, a number of investors—including General Electric, Novus Energy Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and battery-maker Ener1—have pumped money into the company to produce the Th!nk City. That car is a two-door model—slightly bigger than the Smart Car—with a driving range of about 100 miles and a maximum speed of about 60 miles per hour. Think and its investors are betting that there’s a market for an all-electric minicar with a maximum speed roughly equivalent to the slowest highway traffic—and selling for $20,000, its target price. The company also hopes to produce a four-door model in the next three to five years.

According to Ener1 CEO Charles Gassenheimer, Think needs as much as $40 million to get production going again—presumably in its Aurskog, Norway, plan where operations have been hold since December. Only about 400 Th!nk City cars were produced before operations were suspended.

Canny underplayed the significance of the DOE money, in an interview with Automotive News. “We’re still pursuing private investment,” he said. “The Department of Energy loan is not something we see as a substitute for capitalization, but a supplement that makes our operating plan going forward more effective.” He later told Wards Auto that “funding is a big part” of Think’s decision to pursue US operations.

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Electric carmaker Th!nk was denied its request to the Norwegian government for loan guarantees to weather the current economic crisis. The denial may have sealed the company’s fate.

Th!nk requested an estimated $15 to $30 million bailout. According to the company, those short-term guarantees, plus a temporary work stoppage and a layoff of 50 to 70 percent of the company’s 250 employees, was necessary to keep the business afloat. The government funding could have enabled Th!nk to stay on track for launching the Th!nk City, a zero-emission micro car, in European and US markets in the next year or two. The Th!nk City is capable of reaching 65 miles per hour and traveling up to 110 miles on a single charge.

“There are many companies that are in a demanding financial situation,” Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Rikke Lind told Reuters. “The government cannot go in on the ownership side or provide loans to specific companies in today’s situation.”

Th!nk requested the aid citing “urgent financial distress” due to a shortage of working capital. In the midst of the current global economic crisis, automotive start-ups are finding it increasingly difficult to secure private investment dollars.

In a case of electric car Darwinism, niche players like Th!nk, Tesla and Miles Electric Vehicles could fall by the wayside—while major auto manufacturers pursuing full battery-electric vehicles, most notably Nissan, could assume a dominant role in the burgeoning electric car market.

Th!nk halted production on Monday with hopes to resume normal operations soon after the government loan was approved on Tuesday. Now there’s no telling when or if the plant will begin building cars again. “We are in a very serious situation,” said Richard Canny, chief executive officer, in a news conference this morning. He said the company will probably not survive without government intervention.

Just last week, Th!nk reported that it has been building eight to ten Th!nk City cars per day since October, with a full-scale production target of 44 vehicles per day by mid-2009. Those plans for growth—an oddly optimistic outlook coming one week before the company predicts its own demise—indicate a mismatch between high hopes and grim realities for today’s electric car companies.

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