Posted on Wednesday 5 March 2008
Think Global is a Norwegian based manufacturer of electric vehicles and is the company behind the original ‘Th!nk’ electric car that went on sale in the U.S. during the late ‘90s. Back then, Think was owned by Ford, which sold it in 2003 to Swiss company Kamkorp Microelectronics. In 2006 Think went bankrupt and was subsequently rescued by a group of Norwegian investors determined to build the firm into a proper carmaker with a number of all-electric models.
The company has now rolled out a new concept vehicle under it’s Th!nk label, which was on display at this week’s Geneva Motor Show. The new concept is called the Th!nk Ox and officials claim it previews a future production five-seater electric vehicle.
The idea behind the Ox is a modular platform that can be used for multiple vehicles for European, North American and Asian markets. It features a space frame design with the batteries centrally placed in two compartments in the lower frame. Essentially, any car body can be grafted on top of this frame. The concept car pictured is an MPV version. Other styles include coupe and sports car variants.
The powertrain featured in the concept is a 60kW motor powered by either sodium or lithium-ion batteries. This is enough to shift the 3,300lb Ox to 62mph from rest in about 8.5 seconds.
