2011 seems so incredibly long ago now, doesn’t it? It’s hard to believe that it has been 15 years since we only had a $14-trillion national debt (compared to $38-trillion today), Andy Rooney retired from 60 Minutes, and CNET named 2011 as the year of the electric car. This 2011 Think City EV can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Anderson, Indiana, and they’re asking $1,600. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Zappenduster for the tip!
I went to architecture school with an obscure Norwegian; maybe I should have added a comma between Obscure and Norwegian in the title? It’s hard to argue with the obscure part of this 10-foot-long battery-powered city car known as the Think City. I’ve wanted a Honda City for years so I can carry my Motocompo around in style, but I wouldn’t mind a Think City EV for neighborhood errands. I’ve never seen a blue Think City before, and you can see this one has a few scratches and scrapes on its molded, recycled plastic, dyed body panels. Along with that system, sometimes there are glitches, such as this damaged body panel.
I know, I know, don’t get hit head-on by a Chevy Suburban when you’re driving a Think City. Actually, don’t get hit head-on with a Chevy Suburban even if you’re driving a Chevy Suburban. The Think City (and I shouldn’t even have to say this given its size and, you know, its NAME!) is for city driving, commuting, errands, etc. It. Is. Not. For. Cross. Country. Freeway. Driving. Even though its top speed is just under 70 mph, use it to get your sprouted whole grain bread and oat milk at the local co-op, not for driving to Yosemite NP from your home in Portland, Maine.
Norwegians are a tall bunch of humans, in general, so there’s a decent amount of legroom and headroom inside. It’s grayer than Bergen skies, but this is just your commuter car, remember? Have I stressed that enough yet? A Norwegian company called Think Global has an incredibly interesting history, big shocker, no pun intended. Ford actually bought the company in 1999, looking ahead to the coming and/or growing EV market here in the U.S., and as is always the case, emissions laws were dialed back, and Ford said, yeah, enough of that and sold the company in 2002 with just over 1,000 of these cars having been produced. This car would have been about $35,000 in 2011 dollars, around $52,000 today! Ouch.
In the summer of 2008, the Think City was shown at European auto shows and hit the market there shortly after. It was first offered to U.S. customers in this new run in 2010 and, sadly, by 2012, they were done. They were made in Oslo, Norway, its biggest market, and sold there beginning in 2008. Production stopped a few months later and moved to Valmet Automotive, out of Finland. A really odd twist is that in 2010, they were made in Elkhart, Indiana, or partially. Bodies, wheels, and chassis were made in Finland and shipped to Indiana, where the sparky bits were made, and then assembled into completed cars. Once again, bankruptcy hit both Finland and Indiana, and the cars were basically out of production by the end of 2011.
An “engine” photo in a Facebook marketplace listing!! Wow, that’s great. The Think City is powered by a 46-horsepower, 34-kilowatt, three-phase electric induction motor and is backed by a single-speed automatic, sending power to the front wheels. With a 24 kWh battery, they were said to have a range of just under 100 miles, pretty incredible for the time and for such a small car. You already know this one isn’t in running condition as it needs a new battery, the same ol’ story with old EVs. I love that this car is located in Indiana, where it was made. Have any of you heard of the Think City?
I recently saw a Think in my small Massachusetts town. It looked factory-fresh, with nary a blemish. It was cute as the proverbial button.
As is true of any old, limited-production car — come to think of it, almost any old car — I’d worry about spare parts. In this case, especially battery packs. I’m sure that would set the owner back considerable money.
For some reason, I wouldn’t mind having one, though. Given the local streets, which haven’t changed much since the horse-and-buggy days, it’s the perfect size.
That odd pebbly surface on the body panels has always made me want to see one finished in orange.
I’m surprised no one has said “SBC!” in awhile when reviewing cars like these. These are fine you’d suppose for places like Ray T. is talking about but there are areas that just don’t lend themselves to these-recharging stations 100-250 miles apart, high speed interstate highways being the only way to get to the next town, and so on. Maybe for driving in areas around San Francisco, Portland (OR) and some parts of Seattle might work out West here for something like this though.
Again, agreeing with Ray T. parts might be hard to come by too.
But with your Motocompo on board, Scotty, you could leave this charging while you tooled around town on 2 wheels all day then stow your Honda aboard and Think all the way home!
It’s neat how BF readers are continually finding cool unusual stuff like this.
This thing is reminiscent of those (Not So)Smart cars, that were all the rage with the granola and Birkenstock gang, way back when.
This looks like a big step forward from the Sebring Vanguard Citicar. Also 30 years later. One note, as you know well if you ever had one of these, they are NOT suitable for San Francisco streets. Hills kill the early electrics, bringing the range down from about 30 miles to 5-10. And when it dies on you in an intersection, well there you are.
I remember seeing them on the TV show Eureka, I didn’t know they actually made them it was something Hollywood made just for the show.
good luck if your rear ended
That tubing/hose thing running across the “engine room” looks suspiciously like a/c plumbing. If so, what does that do to your range?
Hard to tell in the pictures without a side by side comparison but it reminds me of the Smart for two cars except that the electric smart car can only go 50 miles on a charge this thing claims to get 80, even some of the interior design is like that of the smart car almost makes me want to get it then take the gas drive train from a smart car and put it in this thing.
This car would be great at The Villages in Florida. Where golf carts rule. Compared to a golf cart, this is like a Rolls-Royce. Other than that application it is just worthless out here in the wilds of Nevada. I will pass thank you very much.
Don’t forget that you can always install a small gasoline power generator on the back of the car to keep you going and one battery is impressive. Using a three phase AC motor with a VFD is the key.
…Or, you could wrap the car in flexible solar panels which would
allow you to keep the car charged
while you use it. There is a company in North Florida that makes them. And from what I see here, it wouldn’t be all that hard to wrap one of these to extend it’s range. Only thing is, is
how do you patch the panels into the charging system so you can
charge as you drive? Once you do that, you could use it all day with no worries– especially here in sunny Florida where the sun shines pretty much all the time. I
could actually scale this thing down a bit so that you can use it
on sidewalks and bike paths. If not, you’d be squashed like a grape on New Haven Road here in Melbourne. Hi Wayne! Just talked to Angel 😇 a few days ago and she’s doing okay. Listened to Vegematic for the
umpteenth time and still get a good laugh from it as well. Reminds me of an old friend of mine named Bill Taylor. I met Bill
and his wife Tammy in the early ’90s while working as a newspaper 🗞️ carrier for the Lakeland Ledger 📒 out of Lakeland Florida. Well, after Bill got the hang of rolling newspapers, we nicknamed him
Ledgomatic for his ability to roll
an entire 400 paper 🗞️ route in
five minutes or less. He won the
newspaper rolling championship
at least three times that I know of
And yes folks, there were actual
contests to see who was the fastest route roller of all time. And to my mind, he was it. Like this little car and would get a real
charge out of owning it!
Running current into the batteries or battery while driving is very easy. It would increase your drive range but would probably not charge anything. You would be pulling more current than the panels would supply. There is not enough surface area for the panels needed.
Lane Museum has one: https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/cars/item/think-city-2011/
I think not!
Foot for thought! This and a full sized motorcycle would fit in my toy hauler, better than a golf cart, street legal