I came across this press release (linked below) for Th!nk. It looks quite interesting - a UK price of 14k, 124 mile range, 60 mph top speed (acceleration measured with a diary). HJ says the electricity costs for 10k miles would be about £125, which seems a nice deal.
Anybody seen or driven one in Scandinavia? The website shows a (currently concept) convertible too. For what they are it looks quite a cute niche car.
www.think.no/
tinyurl.com/6xh38g
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If it does what it is supposed to do, it's a viable town/short commute car. Certainly the best looking electric roller skate I've seen in its pictures. I wonder how much it costs or will cost? A pretty penny I wd expect.
We may end up having to drive these milk floats part time at least. But unless you can remove the battery pack and wheel it indoors in some way the charging arrangements will be difficult for people who park on the street. Designated parking places a la disabled, and lockable electricity terminals at the edge of the kerb? People will still be able to glide up in the dead of night and steal someone else's electricity leaving their car under-charged for the morning commute...
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14k uk cost, as I th!nk I mentioned. Then you can opt for 200 euro a month maintenance package which means they will replace the batteries as needed.
Good point about socketry shenanigans.
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Good point about socketry shenanigans.
Agree on that score, although the Scandinavians have had power points for engine heaters in car parks for years, so they make plug in public electrical supplies work somehow.
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HJ says the electricity costs for 10k miles would be about £125, which seems a nice deal.
Any link to where he says that, please? I am curious to find out the assumptions behind that calculation.
Then you can opt for 200 euro a month maintenance package
www.think.no/think/content/view/full/264
"We will own the battery, and take full responsibility for its performance: The customer will only pay a monthly mobility fee (of typically EUR 200) which includes a full maintenance service agreement .. "
That equates to about £160 a month, or £40 a week.
Re. the power points - As Westminster Council provide free parking and electricity for this, there is no problem. Just park in Westminster and get your car topped up daily.
www.westminster.gov.uk/councilgovernmentanddemocra...m
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£14,000 then £40 per week? When you can buy a small petrol car for less than half that which will have much superior performance? Electric cars have a long way to go or tax regimes will have to change dramatically before these catch on in the mass market.
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"Any link to where he says that, please? "
HJ says it in his car by car breakdown of this model, jbif.
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HJ says it in his car by car breakdown of this model, jbif.
Thanks. I have just had a look there but unfortunately HJ does not give information on how the £125 for 10,000 miles is derived.
So here are some rough quick calcs.
At 124 miles per full charge, to go 10,000 miles it means that the car needs about 80 full charges.
£125 divided by 80 full charges, gives you a cost of £1.5625 per full charge, say £1.60.
The cost of electricity was about 16p per kWh when I last paid my bill.
Which means the car has 10 kWh energy stored when fully charged.
Do these figures look right, or have I got my calcs wrong?
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Do these figures look right, or have I got my calcs wrong?
Anyone?
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>> Do these figures look right or have I got my calcs wrong?
I think your maths is basically correct, but...
I don't think battery charging is 100% efficient, and the motor certainly isn't.
And assuming it all was 100% efficient, the 10KW in the motor is producing 13.4 BHP for an hour, or 6.7 BHP for two hours.. could you get it to go at 62 MPH on 6.7 BHP to get the 124 mile range, or could you cope at 31 MPH with 3.8 BHP for four hours?
Seems a bit meagre to me.
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Seems a bit meagre to me.
Exactly. I just cannot see how £125 can charge this car for a run of 10,000 miles.
I could believe the figures if they claimed 1,000 miles.
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Yes. The Th!nk car won't be cheap to buy or own, but it will be cheap to fuel and non-polluting (on a local level anyway).
I quite like the no-questions battery replacement for a flat rate of 2400 euros a year. Gives a proper idea of what ownership will really cost. So often the publicity material for these things talks about how cheap they are and how the electricity only costs 2.1p a mile, that sort of thing. You just know the batteries will have to be replaced fairly soon if the thing gets hard use, and no one says what it costs.
If a device of this sort really works, we can expect to see more of them appearing in the hands of well-heeled, ecologically conscious town dwellers. Even if I was one of those I would hesitate to be seen dead in a G-Whiz, but this thing is no more embarrassing than a Smart.
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The think Ox looks interesting, range and performance closer to that of an ICE powered car. 5 seater as well.
www.think.no/think/content/view/full/261
* Vmax: 135km/h
* Range: 200km
* Acceleration (0-100km/hr): 8.5 sec
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This is so much what Clive Sinclair should have done. He still has an interest in electric cars apparently, but he may have missed the boat on this one.
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I used to see one of these trundling along the A3 from time to time in the days when Ford had an interest in the project. It used to keep up with the traffic quite well.
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Scandinavian/Alaskan plug-in power on parking meters??Excellent until first kid comes along the street.
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The makers of this car could try and sell it to IT and communications-sector firms in places like Canary Wharf or other technology parks where firms have their own car parks. Then the cars could be company cars, given to favoured employees (or all of them) and charging points supplied in the company car park.
Just the sort of thing that would appeal to these modern outfits which are appearing everywhere, like to be seen to be modern and responsible whatever they may be like in reality, and seem to have lots of money.
I offer the idea for nothing to the Th!nk manufacturers. There might be thousands of sales in it.
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make a change from the milk floats trundling around Pinewood :)
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