Think

I am currently working for Think. Think are based in Norway and have now a ready and certainly able cool EV. I’ll apologise early for my obvious bias but its an easy car to get excited about especially once you’ve been behind the wheel. Some key tech points about the vehicle as this is intended to b a technical site. No exact figures I’m afraid, but its enough to give you a good idea of what’s under the hood:

  • Drive motor is AC induction motor through fixed ratio gearbox Never wear out brushes again and quicker running speeds
  • Battery is, in most of the current fleet, Zebra sodium sulphur with around 24kWh on ready tap (actual capacity 28kWh so24kWh is real!) Cars are also being fitted with Li-Ion batteries with similar capacity
  • High power electronics system that are Think designed including
    • Motor controller or traction module 30kW nominal
    • Charger with 110V or 220V i/p 0-100% SOC in 13hrs
    • DC-DC converter with huge auxiliary capability
    • Electric cabin heater with 4kW of de-icing capability (these cars have a lot of cold experience)

http://www.think.no/think/TH!NK-city/Specifications/Technical-data

So what’s it like to drive, well the bulk of the vehicle mass is on the deck so handling is very good. The car accelerates very quickly to around 60 then continues to pull to its top speed. With no need to swap gears it sees off most similar size ICE cars from lights and junctions. Once rolling its hard to differentiate it from it ICE cousin other than the lack of engine noise and the virtual automatic feel of the gear selection. My regular commute was to and from the production facility and the 60km drive usually took around 35% of the battery capacity. Winter driving over the hour added another 10% but hey, its not like its struggling to do the 120km round trip especially as the battery give no penalty for deep DODs. The engineering cars are fitted with bluetooth radios and on the journey calls are easy with no need to shout or effort to hear the other party. As you’d expect from an EV companies car park there are plenty of parking spaces with charge points so on arrival the car is simply plugged in ready for the return leg. Of course with such a low discharge the battery is back to full in no time and there’s never need to skimp on the cabin heating on the way home. At home the car is put in the car port and plugged back in to be ready for the next adventure.

For a less bias report check out this youtube link where some film chaps put a car through its paces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMF2zn4IxLY

Oslo is an easy place to own an EV with plenty of parking with charging. Whilst eh car has enough battery capacity to not need this its always good to get some free juice from the city, and it feels even better knowing that Norway has such a good programme of green energy generation.

I’m resisting filling this space with images but would ask that you visit the Think site to get the latest information.

www.Think.no

ok I have added a few of my personal pics to the gallery but please do look up the Think site. Look out for a Think near you soon and if your building a garage make sure to fit your soon to be needed charge point!

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