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April 23, 2008 – Vol.13 No.5 TH!NK North America Established. A partnership with the Norwegian electric car producer has been formed with clean-tech investors RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. “The TH!NK city is the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified electric vehicle and is ideal for markets such as California where we will initiate demonstration projects offering an exceptionally safe and fun car to drive,” said Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think Global. “We are proud to partner with the two pioneering investors in the clean tech field and to launch TH!NK city in North America with them.” Ray Lane, a Kleiner Perkins Managing Partner and Chairman of TH!NK North America, said, “The transportation industry is undergoing its largest transformation since Henry Ford built the Model T. Today we are witnessing a seminal event – the first highway-capable electric vehicle intended for mass production, representing a big step toward a zero emission transportation industry.” TH!NK also has a strategic partnership with General Electric and partnerships in the US with battery suppliers A123 and EnerDel.
TH!NK City is a battery electric vehicle that can reach a top speed of 100 kph (65 mph) and can drive up to 180 km (110 miles) on a single charge. TH!NK city meets all European and US federal motor vehicle safety requirements and is 95 percent recyclable. The City is currently produced in Norway and international sales are scheduled to begin in Scandinavia, with Switzerland and France also being the initial focus areas. Sales, other than initial trial and demonstration projects, will begin in the North American market in 2009. The capacity of TH!NK’s first assembly plant in Aurskog, outside Oslo, is presently being increased to 10,000 cars per year. Think expects to be producing at full capacity sometime during 2009. Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, since its founding in 1972, has backed entrepreneurs in over 475 ventures, including AOL, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, Sun Microsystems and Symantec. RockPort Capital Partners, founded in 2000, focuses exclusively on the Energy and Power, Advanced Materials and Process and Prevention technology sectors. (4/22/08)
Links: Think Global Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers RockPort Capital Partners
Related: GE Invests in Think Global and A123Systems to Commercialize Electric Car.
Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: Yes
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