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Think EV To Go On Tour

Dearborn-based Think North America said the company would participate with General Electric and other EV makers on a seven-city electric vehicle experience tour.

The event will feature test drives of the Think City for local business fleet operators, government representatives and other EV stakeholders, along with educational workshops with GE's EV experts. 

Scheduled tour dates are: San Francisco, March 10; Seattle, March 15; Los Angeles, March 17; San Diego, March 22.  Additional spring 2011 EV experience tour dates will be announced later for Austin, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Said Think spokesman Brendan Prebo: "We're looking forward to giving hundreds of fleet managers and operators the experience of driving and learning more about the Think City."

GE owns one of the world's largest vehicle fleets and operates a leading global fleet management business. The company has committed to purchasing 25,000 EVs by 2015 for its own fleet and for fleet customers. Norway-based Think says it believes fleet sales will drive up vehicle and battery production volumes and drive down costs, which will benefit retail consumers. This will help push the industry past early adopters into mainstream consumer markets.

And EVs offer several advantages to fleets, which focus more on total cost of ownership than up-front costs. Those advantages include  predictable driving routes and centralized refuelling, which when combined with substantially discounted electricity rates make them a natural platform to launch this new industry.

The Think City can travel 100 miles on a single charge, using advanced lithium-ion batteries manufactured in Indiana by Ener1 Inc. The vehicle has accumulated more than 35 million road miles in customer experience since it was first safety certified in Europe in 1999.   

More at www.thinkev.com.

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