Norwegian electric car maker, Think, wants to open a new manufacturing plant in the U.S. to begin production in 2010.
The company is currently in discussions with eight states, including Michigan, that are interested in hosting the facility.
The plant would initially employ about 300 workers to build 16,000 TH!NK city vehicles per year and another 70 engineers in an accompanying technical center. Plans ultimately call for up to 900 employees and a capacity of 60,000 electric vehicles per year, Think said in a release.
However, first-year volume is expected to be 2,500 available to pilot and demonstration fleet
projects.
"The U.S. is quickly overtaking Europe as an attractive market for EVs and is an ideal location to engineer and build EVs," said Think CEO Richard Canny. "We see ourselves playing a small but potentially growing role in re-inventing the U.S. auto industry by bringing back new manufacturing jobs to the U.S. to replace internal combustion engine vehicles that are expensive to operate and maintain with clean, efficient electric vehicles."
Think North America said it plans to apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, which was created in 2007 to help develop U.S. production capabilities for the highly fuel-efficient vehicles needed to meet long-range energy security and environmental challenges.
Think, which is owned by private equity group Novus Energy Partners, is also collaborating closely with battery makers Ener1, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEV) and A123, which are already under contract to supply compact, high-powered lithium-ion power systems for the TH!NK city.
In January, Th!nk received interim financing from Ener1's parent company to help the company avoid bankruptcy, following a production shutdown in December.
