top speed of 100km/h is only 20km/h short of the top speed limit, but still legal for highway use. meets US and european safety standards and has a range of 180km wich i rarely exeed in one day.
the rear looks more practical than a smart, and with a front that reminds one of the new incarnations of the mini and beetle, and an acceleration that's better than a lot of bigger cars, it may command more respect on the road than it's size will have you think. while it's small and stubby, it looks like a car!
(in fact with the upcomming reincarnation of another classic and revolutionary mini the fiat500 i think smaller cars will start to make their comeback, and gain more respect even with performance and style oriented people)
so while the technology might not be fit for bigger cars just yet, it might be addaptable to a new emergin breed of small but hot cars,.
question of course is, how affordable it will be, but with fuel prices going crazy, and the fact that the technology in essence is simpler than petrol engines production costs should not exeed that of a normal car.
By all initial looks I really dig the th!nk. It looks way better than a Smart. I think the Smarts looks so rediculous and just squashed, so I think the th!nk has a more "normal" design. I haven't been up to date on ev cars lately, but 180km / 108mi sounds like a good leap from anything else I had seen yet. I only drive more than 20 miles about 10-15 times in a year so I think this range is really good.
Sounds to me like Ford really doesn't want Americans to drive smaller more efficient cars.
That sounds right. I think it was just to get rid of the already built ones :
Quote:
17 September 2004
Oslo, Norway ? Following a meeting yesterday with the Norwegian Transport Minister, Ford Europe has confirmed it will not scrap its US fleet of zero emission electric cars, but instead send them to eager customers in Norway.
as far as i know ford pulled out of the th!nk project, so it looks like th!nk will come back to the us and europe independently. they're also working togther with tesla motors, wich as far as i know is also an independant company. if they where to further collaborate on things like production and distribution facilities this would take us another step closer to an electric car that's an available and affordable alternative to combustion engines.an electic car comparable to the toyota aygo would be a huge hit in europe. american markets might desire something bigger or at least something with more range, but i'm sure curent prius drivers would be interested in it if only for the novelty of it.
all these things prove that after EV1 the electric car is still very much alive.
Here's an update on the Th!nk. I thought the deal was to only sell off the cars that Norway bought from Ford, but I was wrong. They got the whole manufacturing plant for $15 million and are redesigning the Th!nk drivetrain from the ground up. I found this out in the August 2007 issue of Business 2.0 :
6. Owner has an emergency meeting across town, comes out to discover that his car is dead. Sale is lost, owner loses job.
No, bad idea. I'd not ever allow my car's charge to be drained in this way, because it would mean the car would not be available for me. And I'm not the only one who believes that my personal transportation should be available to me at all times.
A far better way to handle peak loading times is Spain's plan. Spain has required that all new buildings include solar power technology in the building. If all US housing and business construction were to require at least 50 percent of projected maximum home power usage be produced on-site via solar or wind power, there would be no problems of afternoon surge. The AC would be powered by the sun, which is available when the AC is needed most.
6. Owner has an emergency meeting across town, comes out to discover that his car is dead. Sale is lost, owner loses job.
No, bad idea. I'd not ever allow my car's charge to be drained in this way, because it would mean the car would not be available for me. And I'm not the only one who believes that my personal transportation should be available to me at all times.
A far better way to handle peak loading times is Spain's plan. Spain has required that all new buildings include solar power technology in the building. If all US housing and business construction were to require at least 50 percent of projected maximum home power usage be produced on-site via solar or wind power, there would be no problems of afternoon surge. The AC would be powered by the sun, which is available when the AC is needed most.
I doubt that would be an issue in a context where the "employer provided, solar powered charging station" is part of the solution.
Segway : In the Amory Lovins example, which used hydrogen, he was simultaneously trying to solve the hydrogen infrastructure problem. In that scenario the building was the hydrogen storage facility. When peak demand hit, the fuel cell cars would generate energy back to the grid and exhale water vapor. There was no compromise to the car being charged because it was a fuel cell energy economy.
Segway Segway : Can you imagine if overnight, LA was replaced with fuel cell cars? With all the water vapor, it would be FOGGY BOTTOM City!
But I do agree that mandatory solar is (again) a no-brainer. Build up the solar industry, create good wage jobs, and move in the direction of energy independence all in one bag. That is to say, unless the Sun joins OPEC!
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