Think owners in year-long parts wait
Once the firm that fuelled dreams of a Norwegian auto industry, Think electric cars have begun to stack up at the few mechanic’s shops able to service them due to a spare parts shortage.
Up to 30 percent of the 2,000-odd models produced have suffered breakdowns of a key power-control unit, or PCU. The car’s lithium-ion battery is powerless to recharge without the PCU, and the plant that made them shut its doors in Finland in June.
Vinjes Bilverksted, a garage in Trondheim, has had cars in waiting for parts in the lot for over a year, Addresseavisa reported. The newspaper’s own Think was in for repair.
Together with REC — Norway’s other great green hope — Think was recently the pride of the country's renewable energy industry.
The hope of Think's owners now lies with Electric Mobility Solutions AS. The company bought Think Global of Oslo in July, just months after Think’s fourth bankruptcy filing in 20 years.
Despite the company's jittery finances, production is set to start up again in 2012.
Founded in Oslo in 1991, Think survived beyond 2000 with help from buyer Ford and now subsides on Oslo-based finance supporting US production and Norwegian R&D.
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Up to 30 percent of the 2,000-odd models produced have suffered breakdowns of a key power-control unit, or PCU. The car’s lithium-ion battery is powerless to recharge without the PCU, and the plant that made them shut its doors in Finland in June.
Vinjes Bilverksted, a garage in Trondheim, has had cars in waiting for parts in the lot for over a year, Addresseavisa reported. The newspaper’s own Think was in for repair.
Together with REC — Norway’s other great green hope — Think was recently the pride of the country's renewable energy industry.
The hope of Think's owners now lies with Electric Mobility Solutions AS. The company bought Think Global of Oslo in July, just months after Think’s fourth bankruptcy filing in 20 years.
Despite the company's jittery finances, production is set to start up again in 2012.
Founded in Oslo in 1991, Think survived beyond 2000 with help from buyer Ford and now subsides on Oslo-based finance supporting US production and Norwegian R&D.
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