Business Green: Norwegian Think gets green light for EU-wide electric car sales - by James Murray

The Think electric City Car from Norway

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Norwegian Think gets green light for EU-wide electric car sales - by James Murray

Norwegian electric car firm Think Global is poised to accelerate the roll out of its TH!NK City electric car across Europe, after yesterday becoming the first electric car manufacturer to have its car certified as highway safe across the whole of the EU. The company was awarded a so-called homologation certificate from Dutch certification authority RDW at a ceremony in The Hague, where the Dutch government is working on plans to roll out 500 of the Th!NK City car from this summer. Think said the new certification would make it easier to enter new European markets, allowing it to operate without having to apply for fresh safety certification in each new market.In order to obtain the certificate, the TH!NK City was tested against 40 different directives, covering areas such as crash, braking, lighting and emissions performance. The certification process also involved an audit of the company's engineering and production process, designed to ensure each individual vehicle meets the same requirements.

TH!NK city is an environmental vehicle, emission free and 95 percent recyclable. It reaches a top speed of 100 km (65 miles) per hour 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. At the Geneva Motorshow earlier this year, Think announced a strategic partnership with energy giant General Electric, also an investor in Think. At the Show, Think unveiled its future car, the TH!NK Ox, the first 4/5-seater fully electric vehicle which is slated to begin production in 2010/11. Think has also established partnerships in the US with battery suppliers A123 and EnerDel.

The initial distribution of TH!NK city will be targeted to the most `EV friendly’ cities in Europe. Due to high demand for TH!NK vehicles and finite production capacity in 2009 the Think Global company wants to make sure that they concentrate their efforts on the European cities where one will receive the maximum benefit of buying and using the TH!NK city.