TH!NK, the Norwegian electric car maker, is to re-launch its two-seat city car in the UK at the end of the year.
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Canadian Richard Blundell, managing director of TH!NK UK, said the cars, unlike others available, will be fully homologated and have European NCAP safety ratings.
The first vehicles will go on sale in Norway in three months time while right-hand-drive models will arrive in Britain at the end of the year, followed by other European markets in 2009.
TH!NK was bought by Ford in the 1990s but sold back into private ownership in 2002 after failing to break into the market.
Blundell said that the latest model, the fifth generation TH!NK, is a newly-developed model powered by a choice of sodium or lithium batteries which car travel up to 120 miles in one charge.
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By GlobalDataIt has a top speed of 65mph and can accelerate from 0-30mph in around six seconds. The car has been developed with the help of engineers from Porsche Consulting.
Blundell said prices would be around GBP14,000 while batteries will be leased at a cost of GBP100 a month.
He said: “The batteries have a finite lifespan and would be very costly to replace so the leasing element takes that on-cost out of the equation.”
As for running costs, Blundell said that by using off-peak battery charging it would be as little as GBP50 per 10,000 miles and at peak times GBP120 per 10,000 miles.
TH!NK has already attracted investment from venture capital companies in the United States and at the Geneva show Blundell announced a further $US4m (GBP2m) investment from GE.
He added that the company was talking to potential distributors for the UK and was also in discussion with utility companies regarding on-street charging facilities.
“The car meets the strict safety requirements of both Europe and the US, is equipped with ABS brakes, airbags and three-point safety belts with pre-tensioners.”
The advanced frame is designed to absorb energy and distribute it away from the passenger’s compartment. Even the dashboard and knee padding have been developed to absorb impact.
To further protect the driver and passengers, both doors have side impact bars and pusher blocks made of shock absorbent materials.
The car is also designed to be recycled, while the manufacturing process is also ‘green’ in that it uses pre-coloured plastic body panels – so there is no press or paint shop at the Oslo factory.
Blundell added that a four-door, four-seat model, shown in concept form at Geneva, would go into production in 2011.
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