microcarfan
  • Electric microcar
  • Norway
  • Four wheels
  • Plastic body

Think City

Also known as TH!NK City, Ford TH!NK City, Pivco City Bee, PIV4

Ten prototypes ran at the Lillehammer Olympics, Ford bought the company to meet a law in California, and when the leases ended the American cars were to be crushed. Instead, many went home to Norway, where an electric car paid no tax.

Light-blue small two-door car with round headlamps and its tailgate raised, parked on grass at a show.
A blue 2000 Ford TH!NK City (A266) at the Hebden Bridge Vintage Weekend, England, in August 2022.Photo: DieselFordMondeo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Think City

TH!NK City (A266) · Aurskog, Norway

Built
1999–⁠2012Ford’s cars November 1999 to March 2002; the second generation 2008 to August 2012
Country
NorwayAurskog, Norway; later also Uusikaupunki, Finland, and Elkhart, Indiana
Maker
Pivco; Ford’s TH!NK Nordic; then Think GlobalFord owned it from 1999 to January 2003
Engine
Electric, 19 water-cooled nickel-cadmium battery modulesThe A266; the second generation has a 34 kW motor and Zebra or lithium-ion batteries
Weight
940 kgThe Ford-era A266, about 940 kg
Seats
2Two more optional in the second generation
Wheels
4Electric motor at the front, driving the front wheels
Production
1,005Ford’s A266; then 2,500 second-generation cars by October 2010
Top speed
90km/h90 km/h100 km/h by German Wikipedia; the second generation 110 km/h

Not yet recordedpower and length.

How big is it?

True proportion

Length unknown

No reliable length has been found. The Fiat 500, the Peel P50 and the adult stay, so the gap is shown, not hidden.

  • A rotomoulded plastic body on an aluminium chassis
  • Length not yet confirmed for the Ford-era car
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

Beside its contemporaries

The Norwegian microcars on the road in 1999, on the same 3.5 m scale. Lengths of cars without a page yet come from the census and are unverified.

  1. Kewet / Buddy1991–⁠2013 · Norway

    2.44 m

  2. Think City1999–⁠2012 · Norway

The story

History

Pivco, the Personal Independent Vehicle Company, was founded in January 1991 at Bærum, in Norway. Its PIV2 had an aluminium chassis developed by Hydro Aluminium at Tønder in Denmark, a one-piece body moulded in polyethylene, nickel-cadmium batteries and a three-phase induction motor driving the front wheels, and ten of the 15 prototypes were ready for the Winter Olympics at Lillehammer in 1994.1 The PIV3 City Bee of 1995, sold as the Citi in the United States, followed: 120 were built, and 40 of them ran in the San Francisco Bay Area station-car demonstration of 1995–⁠98.1 For the PIV4 Pivco took on Lotus as a consultant, with an ABS roof and a steel lower frame. The money ran out in 1999, just as development was finished.1

Ford’s TH!NK

Ford bought the company in 1999, to meet California’s coming zero-emission mandate; English Wikipedia’s company history mentions an earlier stake of 51 per cent.21 It sold the car as the TH!NK City, beside TH!NK electric bicycles and the TH!NK Neighbor, a low-speed vehicle of the kind the GEM was built for.1 From November 1999 to March 2002, 1,005 TH!NK Citys, type A266, were built at Aurskog and sold in 14 countries.321 The batteries were 19 water-cooled nickel-cadmium modules, good for about 85 km (53 miles) on a modified ECE 101 cycle, and the car weighed about 940 kg (2,072 lb).31 Its top speed was 90 km/h (56 mph) by one Wikipedia, 100 km/h by the other.13 It was one of the first production electric cars of the modern era, and it belongs to the story of the electric microcars.

From late 2001 to April 2005 Ford ran the cars in a North American demonstration: 192 in California, some with Hertz, 109 in New York, 16 in Georgia and 52 in its own operations at Dearborn, with seven more outside the United States, 376 in all.1 Federal rules let them stay in the country only for the three years of the trial.2 When California softened its mandate, Ford gave up, and on 31 January 2003 sold the business to KamKorp, Kamal Siddiqi’s company.1

The end of the leases in 2004–⁠05 brought the episode the car is remembered for. Ford planned to crush the American cars; Greenpeace protested, on the roof of Ford’s office in Norway among other places, and the company’s history says Ford shipped them to Norway instead.1 The article on the car tells it differently: about half scrapped and half exported.2 In Norway a used TH!NK was worth having, because electric cars there paid no taxes or road tolls, parked free and could use the bus lanes.1

Think Global

The company went into receivership in February 2006, and in March the Norwegian InSpire group of Jan Otto Ringdal and Jan-Olaf Willums bought it and renamed it Think Global. Tesla agreed in May 2007 to supply battery systems worth US$43 million, then withdrew on 2 November; assembly started again late that month.1 In March 2008 General Electric invested US$4 million and joined A123 Systems as a partner.1

The new car, the A306, was certified for the highway, with a 34 kW motor; it reached 110 km/h (68 mph), and a 24 kWh Zebra sodium–nickel chloride battery or lithium-ion cells from EnerDel or A123 took it about 160 km (99 miles) between charges.24 By early 2011, English Wikipedia says, it was one of only five crash-tested, mass-produced electric cars certified for the highway anywhere in the world.2 About 100 had been built for Norway by August 2008, and the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, came to Think’s presentation at that summer’s British Motor Show.2 On 15 December 2008 production stopped and half the staff were laid off, the company citing financial distress.2

It started again on 10 December 2009 at Valmet Automotive in Uusikaupunki, Finland, and by October 2010 the second generation had reached 2,500.214 On 24 November 2010 Think North America began building at Elkhart, Indiana, with bodies and chassis from Finland and EnerDel batteries from Indianapolis; the first 100 cost $41,695 each and went mostly to fleets in Indiana.2 The Lane Motor Museum notes power windows, power steering, a stereo and air conditioning, and interior parts from the Ford Focus to save cost.4 Finland stopped building in March 2011, and on 22 June Think went bankrupt for the fourth time in 20 years. Electric Mobility Solutions bought the assets in July and promised a restart in 2012 that never came; the last 150 American cars were sold off at $22,500, and Elkhart built its last car in August 2012.21

Turquoise small two-door car with a narrow grey grille band and black bumper on a gravel lot.
A turquoise Pivco PIV3 City Bee, the forerunner of the Think City, in July 2009.Photo: Egil Kvaleberg, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Light-blue small hatchback with large round headlamps and bonnet vents, parked in shade beside pick-up trucks.
A light-blue second-generation Think City (A306) in June 2009.Photo: Mark Doliner, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr
Red and white small hatchback with rally number 01 beside an inflatable START arch, people with umbrellas behind.
The red Team Think car, a Think City (A306), at the start of the Zero Rally in Norway in June 2011, the month the company failed for the fourth time.Photo: Zero Emission Resource Organisation, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 5

  • Matt green small two-door car with round headlamps and grey wheels on green carpet under a glass roof. Opens a larger view

    1 A green Ford-era TH!NK City (PIV4, A266) from the front three-quarter at Fully Charged Live in May 2022.

  • Red tall two-door city car with a large black glass tailgate and grey plastic bumpers in a car park. Opens a larger view

    2 A red Ford-era TH!NK City (A266) still in use, parked in the United States in September 2017.

  • Rear three-quarter of a matt green tall hatchback with dark plastic lower panels and a Dutch plate on green carpet. Opens a larger view

    3 A green Ford-era TH!NK City (PIV4, A266) on display at Fully Charged Live in May 2022.

  • Dark blue small two-door car with round headlamps on a lit plinth beside a coil-spring display and posters. Opens a larger view

    4 A blue Ford TH!NK City (A266) on display at the Museum Autovision, Altlußheim, Germany, in October 2008.

  • Cream small two-door car with blue TH!NK decals, round headlamps and an EX51 plate on a dark museum floor. Opens a larger view

    5 A cream and blue 2001 Ford TH!NK City (A266) on display at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, in July 2022.

The car: Think City (A306) 22

  • Black small hatchback with a white door panel and red plug logo on brick paving, a hotel facade behind. Opens a larger view

    6 A black Think City (A306) car-share car parked on a square in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in January 2012.

  • Red small hatchback with white ENER1 lettering and a driver at the wheel on a road beside building works. Opens a larger view

    7 A red Think City (A306) in Ener1 ‘100% electric’ livery at an electric-vehicle show in Washington, D.C., in April 2011.

  • Matt black small hatchback with round headlamps and a Swiss number plate on paving beside an iron fence. Opens a larger view

    8 A black Think City (A306) with ‘Ich fahre elektrisch’ lettering, parked by a railing in Switzerland in May 2018.

  • Matt black small hatchback with round headlamps and a Danish plate on cobbles beside rows of parked bicycles. Opens a larger view

    9 A black Think City (A306) parked on a street in Denmark with bicycles behind.

  • Red small hatchback with round headlamps and bonnet vents on cobblestones, market stalls and shoppers behind. Opens a larger view

    10 A red Think City (A306) parked on cobbles beside a street market in April 2008.

17 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Red small hatchback lettered THINK city with a man at the wheel and visitors in front of an office. Opens a larger view

    11 A red Think City (A306) demonstrator in ‘100% electric’ livery in the United States in June 2010.

  • Black small hatchback with a white plug-and-cable graphic on its door and a Spanish plate, parked by a kerb. Opens a larger view

    12 A black Think City (A306) with a plug graphic, parked in Girona, Spain, in September 2010.

  • White small hatchback with teal and purple panels and a yellow Dutch plate parked on a pavement by a hedge. Opens a larger view

    13 A Think City (A306) in the livery of the Dutch grid company Liander in the Netherlands in May 2011.

  • Red small hatchback with silver roof pillars and round headlamps parked beside a silver estate car. Opens a larger view

    14 A red Think City (A306) at Leisure World, Maryland, in the United States in July 2012.

  • Red small hatchback from above and to the side, its silver roof frame and windscreen catching the sun at a kerb. Opens a larger view

    15 A sun-faded red Think City (A306) seen from a high front-side angle in January 2021.

  • Side view of a red hatchback lettered THINK city, its tailgate raised, a group of visitors at the back. Opens a larger view

    16 A red Think City (A306) demonstrator in profile with its hatch open, in the United States in June 2010.

  • Side view of a faded red small hatchback with streaked paint and silver wheels in front of brick steps. Opens a larger view

    17 A sun-faded red Think City (A306) parked by a house, side view, in January 2021.

  • Rear of a red hatchback with a black glass tailgate, round tail lamps and a white plate in low winter sun. Opens a larger view

    18 A sun-faded red Think City (A306) from the rear three-quarter, parked at a kerb, in January 2021.

  • Rear of a red hatchback with a large dark glass tailgate, round tail lamps and a 100% badge in a car park. Opens a larger view

    19 A red Think City (A306) demonstrator from directly behind, its driver’s door open, in the United States in June 2010.

  • Faded red small hatchback with round headlamps parked at a kerb, a pick-up truck and shops behind. Opens a larger view

    20 A pink-red 2011 Think City (A306) parked at a kerb in a city street in September 2022.

  • Yellow small hatchback with ‘aero’ door lettering beside a blue one, both plugged in on a wet car park. Opens a larger view

    21 A yellow and a blue Think City (A306) charging in Ærøskøbing, Denmark, in 2009.

  • Red and white small hatchback with Carsharing lettering parked by a charging post, an electric-car symbol painted on the bay. Opens a larger view

    22 A Think City (A306) car-sharing car at an electric charging bay in Pamplona, Spain, in June 2013.

  • Red and white hatchback with a large e.on logo, plugged into an orange charging post in a red tent. Opens a larger view

    23 A Think City (A306) in E.ON livery charging at an e-mobility stand in June 2010.

  • Red small hatchback with chequered rally livery driving between traffic cones on a wet road, marshals behind. Opens a larger view

    24 A red and white Think City (A306) on a driving course during the Zero Rally, Norway, in June 2011.

  • Black small hatchback with rally number 07 and a helmeted driver cornering on a grey track lined with trees. Opens a larger view

    25 A black Think City (A306) in ‘Dare to be tough’ livery cornering at Vålerbanen, Norway, during the Zero Rally in June 2011.

  • Black small hatchback lettered THINK city with both doors open, visitors looking at it on a stand. Opens a larger view

    26 A black 2009 Think City (A306) on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, England, in July 2009.

  • Black small hatchback with its driver inside next to a white egg-shaped electric car, people talking between them. Opens a larger view

    27 A black Think City (A306) beside a Mitsubishi i-MiEV at an electric-vehicle event in October 2010.

Inside and details 3

  • Engine bay crowded with an electric motor housing, orange high-voltage cables, a coolant bottle and labels. Opens a larger view

    28 The front electric-drive unit under the bonnet of a Think City (A306), photographed in June 2010.

  • Close view of grey textured plastic with the raised word TH!NK moulded in italic capitals. Opens a larger view

    29 The TH!NK name moulded into the plastic body panel of a 2001 Ford TH!NK City at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, in September 2016.

  • Two white printed maker’s plates and two yellow approval labels screwed to a black panel above a red bumper. Opens a larger view

    30 Think Technology AS data plates, marked ‘Manufactured in Norway’, under the bonnet of a Think City (A306) in June 2010.

Period photographs 1

  • Two small turquoise two-door hatchbacks parked side by side on gravel, one facing the camera and one showing its tail. Opens a larger view

    31 Two turquoise Pivco PIV3 City Bee electric cars, one from the front and one from behind, on Norwegian plates.

Picture credits (31)
  1. 1 Jan Ainali, CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. 2 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 Jan Ainali, CC BY-SA 4.0
  4. 4 Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. 5 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  6. 6 Brbbl, CC BY-SA 3.0
  7. 7 Mariordo (Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz), CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. 8 crash71100, CC0 1.0
  9. 9 tomislavmedak, CC BY 2.0
  10. 10 Mahlum, Public domain
  11. 11 Richard Kelly, CC BY-SA 2.0
  12. 12 Georges Jansoone (JoJan), CC BY 3.0
  13. 13 Joost J. Bakker from IJmuiden, CC BY 2.0
  14. 14 IFCAR, Public domain
  15. 15 Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0
  16. 16 Richard Kelly, CC BY-SA 2.0
  17. 17 Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0
  18. 18 Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0
  19. 19 Richard Kelly, CC BY-SA 2.0
  20. 20 DestinationFearFan, CC BY-SA 4.0
  21. 21 Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0
  22. 22 Biblioteca Pública de San Jorge - Sanduzelaiko Biblioteka Publikoa, CC BY-SA 3.0
  23. 23 Spanish Coches, CC BY 2.0
  24. 24 Zero Emission Resource Organisation, CC BY 2.0
  25. 25 Zero Emission Resource Organisation, CC BY 2.0
  26. 26 Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0
  27. 27 biosfear, CC BY 2.0
  28. 28 Richard Kelly, CC BY-SA 2.0
  29. 29 Karen Roe, CC BY 2.0
  30. 30 Richard Kelly, CC BY-SA 2.0
  31. 31 Egil Kvaleberg, CC BY-SA 3.0

Variants

From prototype to highway car

Pivco and Think models
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
PIV21991–⁠94Aluminium chassis, rotomoulded polyethylene body, nickel-cadmium batteries15 prototypes
PIV3 City Bee1995Sold as the Citi in the US; ran in the San Francisco station-car trial120
Ford TH!NK City (PIV4, A266)1999–⁠2002The production car, developed with Lotus as consultant1,005
Think City (A306)2008–⁠12Highway-certified and crash-tested; Zebra or lithium-ion batteries; two more seats optional2,500 by October 2010; final total not found

Specification

Both generations, by source

Ford TH!NK City (A266)

Batteries19 water-cooled nickel-cadmium modules3
RangeAbout 85 km (53 miles), modified ECE 101 cycle13
Top speed90 km/h (56 mph)1100 km/h by German Wikipedia
WeightAbout 940 kg (2,072 lb)3
BodyRotomoulded plastic on an aluminium chassis, a steel lower frame and an ABS roof1

Think City (A306): motor and batteries

MotorThree-phase induction, 34 kW (46 hp), 89 Nm2430 kW by German Wikipedia
GearboxSingle fixed reduction, 10.15:12
Batteries24 kWh Zebra (sodium–nickel chloride), 23 kWh EnerDel lithium-ion or 18.7 kWh A123 lithium-ion2
Charging9.5–10 hours on 230 V2
BrakesFront discs, rear drums, ABS and regenerative braking2

Think City (A306): dimensions

Length3,120 mm (123 in)33,143 mm by English Wikipedia
Width1,604 mm31,658 mm by English Wikipedia
Height1,548 mm3
Kerb weight1,113 kg31,038 or 1,065 kg by English Wikipedia

Think City (A306): performance and price

Top speed110 km/h (68 mph)24100 km/h by German Wikipedia
Range160 km (99 miles)24
Price newNOK 244,000 in Norway; €49,600 in Finland; $36,495 in the US2The first 100 US cars $41,695; the Lane museum gives $35,495

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

1,005 Ford cars, then 2,500 more by 2010Ford built 1,005 TH!NK Citys, a figure three sources agree on. The second generation had reached 2,500 by October 2010; how many more were built before the end in August 2012 has not been found.

  1. 2,500second-generation cars, 2008 to October 2010Two sources agree

    English Wikipedia, twice, and the Lane Motor Museum214

  2. 1,120Th!nk Citys and PIV4s registered in Norway, 30 September 2013One source

    English Wikipedia2

  3. 1,005Ford TH!NK Citys (A266), November 1999 to March 2002, sold in 14 countriesTwo sources agree

    English and German Wikipedia213

  4. about 500second-generation cars that reached the USOne source

    Lane Motor Museum4

  5. 376Ford cars in the North American trial, 372 of them for customersOne source

    English Wikipedia, Think Global1

  6. 120PIV3 City Bees, 1995One source

    English Wikipedia, Think Global1

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. Lillehammer, 1994

    Ten of the 15 PIV2 prototypes were ready for the Winter Olympics.

  2. Crush or export

    Ford meant to crush its American lease cars; after Greenpeace protested, many went to Norway instead.

  3. Four bankruptcies

    The fourth, in June 2011, came 20 years after Pivco was founded.

Survivors and collecting

Today

Norwegian registrations of Th!nk Citys and PIV4s had reached 1,120 by 30 September 2013.2 Nashville’s Lane Motor Museum owns a 2011 second-generation car.4 No club, survivor count or auction result has been found. Two of the photographs show a 2001 TH!NK City at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, and another at the Museum Autovision in Altlußheim, Germany.

Matt red small hatchback with round headlamps and a dark grille slot on a wet concrete floor by large windows.
The Lane Motor Museum’s red 2011 Think City (A306), in Nashville in July 2024.Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Numbered as in the text

The history rests on two English Wikipedia articles and one German, with the Lane Motor Museum for the American car. No period road test was read.

  1. English Wikipedia, Think Global, read in part (the company’s history to the Ford years and after).
  2. English Wikipedia, Think City, read in full.
  3. German Wikipedia, Think City, read.
  4. Lane Motor Museum, “Think City – 2011”, collection page.