Two New Players in the U.S. EV Game
Friday, December 17th, 2010There are two new players in the American electric car market. According to Automotive News, both Azure Dynamics Corp and Think Global AS are bringing EVs to the United States.
The two carmakers are following close on the heels of Nissan and Chevrolet, whose all-electric Leaf and electric plug-in Volt, respectively, saw their first customers sales earlier this week. However, the new brands will be marketed to fleet users before the general public gets a crack at them.
The first U.S.-manufactured Think cars – fifteen of the company’s City models, were delivered to the State of Indiana yesterday, for use as part of the government’s fleet. The four-seat City can go 100 miles on a single charge, and has a top speed of roughly 68 mph. Think CEO Barry Engle said in a statement that the delivery marks the automaker’s push toward lowering the number of gasoline-powered fleet cars.
Engle also said in his statement to the press, “As part of that goal, we’ve made a strategic decision to target initially the many millions of fleet vehicles in operation in the U.S. market. These fleets can jump-start vehicle electrification in America’s cities and help push the industry past early adopters into mainstream consumer markets. Fleet sales will drive up vehicle and battery production volumes and drive down costs, which will benefit retail consumers.”
The cars in question were produced in Think’s plant in Elkhart, IN, and have locally assembled lithium-ion batteries provided by Ener1, Inc. That company, which is based in New York, owns a 34% stake in Think.
According to a press release distributed yesterday, most of the Think cars will be used in the Indiana state park system, but the company also said it will begin sales of the City EVs in limited markets around the United States – such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C., – next year. Including the delivery fee, the first Think vehicles will cost $34,000.
But Think isn’t the only purveyor of electric vehicles to have exciting news for the U.S. market. Azure has filled its last two LEAD customer program positions for the electric version of Ford Motor Co.’s Transit Connect van. This program gave ten government and commercial fleet operators the opportunity to buy the initial 2010 production units of the Connect Electric.
Azure, which develops and produces electric and hybrid electric components and power-train systems for commercial vehicles has kept it’s focus on commercial deliver fleets. The company would not identify its two newest customers, but hinted that they are based in Washington D.C. and that one is a governmental organization, while the other is a logistics organization that purchased thirty vehicles. According to Azure, the ten fleet operators have purchased a total of 150 Connect Electric vehicles so far.
According to Azure, it now plans to open orders for the Connect Electric to any interested fleet operators in North America.