You Mean More Than One Dealership? Electric Car Maker Think to Expand

Think, the Norwegian electric car maker that had to temporarily shut down after putting out a few cars, is expected to announce an “aggressive” expansion plan, according to AutoBlogGreen, that includes bringing the cars to the U.S. in 2010.

Sounds like a pitch for Dept. of Energy money to me.

Expansion of any sort shouldn’t be too big of a problem. The car is only sold at one dealership right now, Norway’s Petter Hummel. Think started selling the car there last November. The dealership was getting a lot of interest from customers, but closing few deals when Think announced in December it needed emergency bailout funds. The company had apparently already burned through the bulk of its $85 million in venture funds. Ener1, which sells batteries to Think, coughed up around $5.7 million, less than the $14 million sought. But that got production going again.

Last month, the company delivered two cars to Sweden: They will be used by the royal court of Sweden. (There’s a motto you never expected: Economy Car Makers to the King!)

Think’s main problem is the same faced by other car makers: batteries. They are expensive and don’t hold nearly as much energy as gas. The Think City, the town car sold by Think, sells for around $29,000 but consumers have to lease the battery too. Over a seven year period, the total price comes to around $44,000. Put another way, that’s about double the price of a Honda Accord. Or, put another way, you could buy the Honda and enough gas to drive 14 years for the same price you’d pay for owning the Think for seven years.

Oh, and the Think tops out at around 62 to 65 miles per hour and takes several hours to recharge. Battery economics and performance will change over time, but it will take slow, steady work.