Thank you for this test! A couple of things! The Sodium battery was not an “earlier” battery, it was the normal battery though the life of the model (in Norway and Europe). And while it is true, that to keep the salt molten, the car has to be plugged in to the mains, it is far from as bad as you make it sound! The battery is very weil isolated and has an internal warming element the will keep the temperature up for many days by using energy from the battery! Upon reaching a low SOC it will run a cooling down/freezing program, to unfreeze an Zebra battery (the name of the battery), takes a couple of days, (haven’t tried that) I have 3 Think City’s at the moment, one running and one that I hope will run eventually, and my first whit’s I keep for parts! My first Thin run for 120 000 Km, then I got a spear car with only 40 000 on the clock but with a death battery! I put battery from my original car into the low kilometer car in where it has now run app. 10 000 km. And the capacity is just the same as it was when I first bought the first car 5 years ago! But it has to be to say that it is time (mostly due to the heat stress of 300 c. for years) that kill then of, knock wood but my battery is fine so fare! :-)
Thank you for the clarification! I had reservations about putting this in the video because it was just something the owner told me while I was filming, but I had to leave it in because it was just too interesting. Now I know the full story!
One of the great th!ngs about the Zebra battery was that it doesn't really care about ambient temperature, so winter range is almost the same as summer range. Normal EV's Lithium-ion batteries perform badly in cold weather, and get damaged in too hot weather. However, the Zebra battery is more fragile and can't be fast charged (a huge issue). Thanks for doing a Think, it makes me feel weirdly proud to be Norwegian, watching this automotive flop get some recognition aboad.
Could this Sodium Battery tech be used on Drones? Would it be an improvement one Lithium Ion? ( I don't know anything much on batteries) . Patent 672256 .
But look on the bright side, if you leave it under the sunlight for long enough the battery will eventually heat up to 300 degrees and the car will become drivable!
At Ford's Technical Centre in Dunton UK, the management used these basically as golf carts to get around the facility. They had a special charging place by the front door and even as a kid visiting my dad's work on an open day, I can still remember seeing how up close the plastic on these things reminded me of those Fisher Price outdoor playsets that are clearly made from recycled plastic.
+NOCH Norway made good cars its just they overpriced it so damn much. Troll car in the 50s, they made 5 of them and they actually sold a few of those tiny numbers to customers. It was the first plastic car in Europe and frankly it was vastly better than Trabant, Troll compared to Trabant would be like comparing Mercedes Benz at the time to a horsedrawn carriage.
Back when I was a teenager I had a hobby of collecting car brochures and got one from the Ford-era Th!nk for some reason. I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did. I figured it died fifteen years ago.
My first car was a Citroen AX mk2 diesel powered turd. I loved it and I still miss it. It had a 53 horse power old school tractor sounding diesel engine and similar to the Th!nk, it had a glass boot but the lower half was made of actually decent plastic. Never had any issued with it. And contrary to my current car, it had an amazing mileage, about 75 mpg!
My dad almost started working at the Th!nk factory but, they didn't offer a good enough pay for him to accept, a few months later the factory shut down. He did not regret his choice. there is still quite a few of these around here in Norway.
I'm obviously late to the ball, but an interesting fact I found is that the listed price for a new 2002 Th!nk was around 160' NOK which translates to around 16' USD. How they managed to list it at 36' USD in 2011 is mindblowing...
1). Norway taxes the crap out of cars IIRC 2) with some battery and power electronics/charging updates it's probably as good a very small EV as one could build today.
I do remember hearing about the ThInk City a while back when NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles) were a big deal in the news...then the whole thing just seemed to drop off the face of the Earth and I never heard anything more about them.
I got to ride in a Ford Th!nk in New York City back in 2000 during The American Tour De Sol. The one I rode in was Blue and from what I remember it was pretty peppy. Thanks for bringing back the memories. I was there as a competitor and I had nearly forgotten about the ride in the Th!nk.
Neighbor down the street had one for a couple of years and always drove it around town. I did notice that the plastic was slowly fading. Last year he replaced it with a Volt.
Not only have a heard about it.. a friend of my worked at the factory as a logistics paper pusher over a few years The sodium battery should last about 72 hours with out recharging. The thing is. When the car is driven, the batteries freeze up as the batteries get discharged. This is actually how the energy is stored.. So the car is losing a stedy state of range when its not in the charger. This is actually true about all electric cars, but for a modern lithium powered car, we are really talking about years, not days
Great Video! I live in Elkhart, In. and I have been an electric car Enthusiast for many years. The first Electric car I ever drove/ worked on was the Commuta Car. My career experience is in Electronics, so when I heard that Think was coming to Elkhart, I had visions of working for the company. I was delivering pizza at the time and saw how the Think would be valuable to deliver pizza. I got ahold of a representative of the company ( who drove down from Detroit, I found out later)for a test drive. I got to drive the car around Elkhart. I mentioned what I wanted to use it for and the Rep somehow thought I wanted buy a fleet of them for the pizza company. I repeated multiple times in the original call that I wanted to test ONE for my own use. So as the test drive ended, the rep seriously wanted to know how many I wanted to buy, when I said I was only interested in one, I got the distinct impression he was under the impression I would buy quantity.... I got a tour of the "Factory " and saw maybe 20 vehicles in process.. I found out this factoid.. the car was about 90% built in Norway, and shipped to Elkhart for the tail light system to be installed and a few other things put on the car to make it U.S. road legal. I was told that the tail lights were different in Norway and that it would NOT meet U.S. auto standards as is from Norway.. So Elkhart was more of a staging facility than an actual 'from-raw-materials-to-complete -car' factory I thought it was. I very much enjoyed the drive and got more enthused about E-Drive vehicles. Think did not have any lease program in force, so purchase was only option, so sticker price was definitely a non-starter... after the tour, I realized that a career there for me was essentially nonexistent. As a side note, the next town east , Mishawaka, Is the home of a Chinese Electric car company that is re-tooling the former H2 Hummer plant for U.S. Sales... I know next to nothing about this company, but am keeping eyes and ears open to what they can produce there.. This is where to start if you are interested... www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.southbendtribune.com/news/business/sf-motors-unveils-electric-vehicles-to-be-made-in-mishawaka/article_4ba28606-fe2e-5889-b5c1-ffade0d140cb.amp.html&ved=2ahUKEwi8z7u2443gAhUr7IMKHeS3AbYQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0NVk2NMks37IEXfdMwTYuq&cf=1&cshid=1548585771701
I grew up in Mishawaka and was going to school in Elkhart around 2012. I had no idea they made anything but RVs there, that's all you can see driving by on the toll road.
Ok, this is strange. I saw one of these last week here in Monterey California, and though to myself that I should take a pic of this and send it to you to see if you have seen one. Obviously you have! Thanks for the vid, now when I see it again, I'll ask the owner about it and see if I can get more info!
A sub 25k price, electric power steering and an modern 30 kw battery this would work. Today. I know it would be an awesome second car in the Caribbean. This is what I would hope an Honda electric car would be like. More quality slightly more room and an sub 30k price. Hopefully just as basic. Manual controls and analog gauges.
Having left Norway in 2012, I did not expect to ever see an ELBIL* again...! So this is a very pleasant surprise! Saw these little buggers parked everywhere in Oslo when I used to frequent it (something to do with huge financial and mobility incentives to go electric, which they dropped when everyone got Teslas and it clogged the initiative to death), they were a bit of a joke, but with their relative ubiquity, they must've been doing something right! (*"Bil" meaning "car", so ELectric car. No one ever called these by their brand name, just "ELBIL" in a somewhat snide tone to denote their joke status. I assume e-cars since then have taken on a bit of a better image...!)
Thank you for finding all of the weird small electric cars aging wheels. Now do a video on one of those weird golf cart type electric cars that came out around 08 and were limited to 40 or 45mph they have a egg shape roof. That would make an interesting video
Thanks to you bro. I saw one of these the other day in coconut grove florida. Hung out until the owner came back to his car and got to check it out. Cool beans man
I've only heard of liquid salt batteries being used in very temporary engines, like ones that are designed to only last for about a minute before being destroyed completely. i never would have guessed a car would use one
I remember these. Looks like this new model has come a long way compared to the ones 20 years ago. My father had one around the year 2000. Was more at a workshop getting fixed than on the road. The final trip with the car resulted in a broken drive shaft because it couldn't handle the immense power from the 25 HP motor in his model. He told the dealer which ditch it was stuck in and that he didn't want to see it again. Oh, and the user manual literally said to not use the heater in the winter (if you had the electric one), which is why many had diesel heaters. Norway also have strict regulations regarding swapping battery packs for other types, forcing you to use the same type as the old one. Swapping a Think battery pack costs around 15.000 USD, so most are just paperweights now.
Geez, I feel old. I remember seeing these on display at the NAIAS where - if memory serves - they showcased the small hatchback, a golf cart-esque vehicle, and I think a small sedan.
Nope, the only reason people buy them is because the goverment subsidies the car with around 50000$ Its a car for snobs and people who like beeing watched, I've never personally met anyone who bougth it to save the environment. Plus, some of the hydroelectric power are sold out of the country so basicly they run on coal and nuclear made power from time to time :p Also electric cars does go through toll booths for free, also free parking. So in bigger cities it really does pay off to get an electric car :p
Indeed it is, but its not particulary environment friendly if the power comes from coal. For a city situation I completely understand buying an electric car. But as soon as you have to pay the full price for a tesla, and pay for parking and toll booths. Nobody will buy an electric car anymore :p
Actually The Th!nk City is the reason the Norway has the highest ratio of EV/Fossil fuel Vehicle in the world, because they wanted to help start a Norwegian car industry! , (my hypothesis :-) )
I would want a tiny electric car like this with 2 seats, a tiny trunk, and batteries that I can bring into my apartment and charge indoors then bring them back out and plug them in. Only need like 30-50 mile range to get around town, as I can't ride a bike or walk any significant distance, but I don't drive far.
I love the sun fade on the body panels. That's how you know a real high-quality plastic was used. My neighbor used to have a Yamaha side-by-side ATV that was exactly the same color by about the sixth month he owned it. Also, "molten sodium" is really high on the list of things I don't want in my car. Or anywhere else around me.
@@Karreth Well, in that case, maybe they _were_ a Yamaha side-by-side ATV first. :) (As an aside, all cars are "almost completely recyclable". People have been recycling cars since long before recycling was fashionable, except back then we called the recycling facilities "junkyards".)
I think I saw one of these in Norway ages ago! Also, I know it may not directly match with your car niche but I would love to see you review the Fisker Karma and give us a rundown of their history as well as more recent developments as they've (sort of) been resurrected as far as I last recall. Probably the most famous electric oddball of the decade!
I saw one of these things in person today for the first time at a stop light, it really is an adorable little car. Pulled up and saw that all glass hatch and thought “no way” but then saw the logo and got excited. This one was black and looks like the sun hadn’t done any damage to the color. The driver looked to be having the time of his life too.
"If you're trying to find the limits of adhesion you'll end up hitting a pedestrian or smacking into a building or something" by far my favorite line of the vid
Once, my buddy called to proudly tell me he'd bought a Yugo, and wanted my help to go get it in Pennsylvania. This just triggered that whole nightmare again. Great video!
Two reasons: Large production figures spreading the costs of tooling and production over many vehicles is the reason why other cars are cheaper - and they couldn't do it as a small upstart company. The other is obviously the batteries, which likely made up more than half of the price.
I like the fact that it was built in Elkhart, Indiana. He's right about the RVs that are built there, but I'm reminded of the VPG MV-1, a wheelchair van that's bulit in nearby Mishawaka.
Thank you for this test!
A couple of things!
The Sodium battery was not an “earlier” battery, it was the normal battery though the life of the model (in Norway and Europe).
And while it is true, that to keep the salt molten, the car has to be plugged in to the mains, it is far from as bad as you make it sound!
The battery is very weil isolated and has an internal warming element the will keep the temperature up for many days by using energy from the battery!
Upon reaching a low SOC it will run a cooling down/freezing program, to unfreeze an Zebra battery (the name of the battery), takes a couple of days, (haven’t tried that)
I have 3 Think City’s at the moment, one running and one that I hope will run eventually, and my first whit’s I keep for parts!
My first Thin run for 120 000 Km, then I got a spear car with only 40 000 on the clock but with a death battery!
I put battery from my original car into the low kilometer car in where it has now run app. 10 000 km.
And the capacity is just the same as it was when I first bought the first car 5 years ago!
But it has to be to say that it is time (mostly due to the heat stress of 300 c. for years) that kill then of, knock wood but my battery is fine so fare! :-)
Thank you for the clarification! I had reservations about putting this in the video because it was just something the owner told me while I was filming, but I had to leave it in because it was just too interesting. Now I know the full story!
One of the great th!ngs about the Zebra battery was that it doesn't really care about ambient temperature, so winter range is almost the same as summer range. Normal EV's Lithium-ion batteries perform badly in cold weather, and get damaged in too hot weather. However, the Zebra battery is more fragile and can't be fast charged (a huge issue).
Thanks for doing a Think, it makes me feel weirdly proud to be Norwegian, watching this automotive flop get some recognition aboad.
Could this Sodium Battery tech be used on Drones? Would it be an improvement one Lithium Ion? ( I don't know anything much on batteries) . Patent 672256 .
Took me a while to figure out what you meant by "spear car"... No worries though, nobody's perfect.
Walter Nyberg. The first car died after 120000 you say. What from? I am thinking of buying one, but I need your advice please.
... Norwegia should have just punted and called it a *"Fjord".*
Ha!
@@ants621 whoah you right they shouldve made a joke about that
My man... it was a joke :/
fjord focus
Fjortress of Solitude
If you wait long enough under the sunlight, it will turn white.
Is it basically going to blush?
And it will become so brittle that a fast ping pong ball strike will punch a hole.
not all plastic goes bad under the sun, i have uvpc 'plastic' windows that are near 40 years old, not yellowed or become brittle
CHEAPEST PAINT JOBS REVEALED!!! CAR HACKS EPISODE 98R5439753046738456
But look on the bright side, if you leave it under the sunlight for long enough the battery will eventually heat up to 300 degrees and the car will become drivable!
For a car that looked like it came off a 3D printer, it looks like a nice car.
LOL!
it looks like a shitier version of the daewoo matiz
It really does tho, i can expect someone to be driving this
the modeling of the car looks like Fiat 500
"Angry asthmatic squirrel" made me LMAO about 5 seconds after you dropped that line. Had to pause to laugh. Bravo!
Same
At Ford's Technical Centre in Dunton UK, the management used these basically as golf carts to get around the facility. They had a special charging place by the front door and even as a kid visiting my dad's work on an open day, I can still remember seeing how up close the plastic on these things reminded me of those Fisher Price outdoor playsets that are clearly made from recycled plastic.
they make angry asthmatic squirrel power steering systems for their ev's
Ever whondered why we in "Norwegia" Don't make cars? Well now you know.
NOCH, either we just make 6 of them or we make shit ones
Disappointing actually. As a car guy i would love to see Norwegian made cars on the road.
Z4G if we woud make a hot hatch or a muscle car with a big V8 i woud buy it in a heartbeat
+NOCH
Norway made good cars its just they overpriced it so damn much.
Troll car in the 50s, they made 5 of them and they actually sold a few of those tiny numbers to customers.
It was the first plastic car in Europe and frankly it was vastly better than Trabant, Troll compared to Trabant would be like comparing Mercedes Benz at the time to a horsedrawn carriage.
Isn't "Norwegia" right next to Ignoroslavia?
He honestly has a better & more entertaining personality than Doug DeMuro
As much as I love watching Doug DeMuro I agree this guy is far funnier, and better at editing 😂
But does he tell you about all of the quirks and features?
This guy is more like Hoovies Garage
Hani Himmo nah both are good. Glad I found another dough
Martyn Rosenburg I don't know, I love Hoovie but there's something about his face & voice that really annoys me...
"I'm not planning to get in a car. I don't why I opened the doors"
*proceeds to get in the car*
I loved that part hehe
ok mr fake verification checkmark
@@thundervallie hello
Back when I was a teenager I had a hobby of collecting car brochures and got one from the Ford-era Th!nk for some reason. I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did. I figured it died fifteen years ago.
I lived 2 miles from Purdue’s campus for about 6 years and there were 2 of these always driving around, I had no idea what they were, until now
One was part of an experimental fuel-cell project.
2:10 Thank you for converting the battery pack capacity into a more relevant unit of measure. DIED LAUGHING!
yrettab hWk32
@@bibasik7 that´s "norwegish"
The imperial input should really be horse power hours.
Surely the metric side should have been quoted in Joules
I just noticed after looking back at it, it was 20 to 5 am you dick! XD
My first car was a Citroen AX mk2 diesel powered turd. I loved it and I still miss it. It had a 53 horse power old school tractor sounding diesel engine and similar to the Th!nk, it had a glass boot but the lower half was made of actually decent plastic. Never had any issued with it. And contrary to my current car, it had an amazing mileage, about 75 mpg!
My dad almost started working at the Th!nk factory but, they didn't offer a good enough pay for him to accept, a few months later the factory shut down. He did not regret his choice. there is still quite a few of these around here in Norway.
I really like your video style....would never own any of these cars you tape...but i like the fact that your preserving history of these orphans...
John Hull amen
the speedo is rather mocking considering it's fixed speed limitation.
I think that it's probably like that because the top speed of 75mph is almost exactly 120km/h.
Ahh yes, I forgot I was metric.
:D
But it says mph in the middle
its so fast that they had to limit it from going supersonic and driving into an old lady.
I'm obviously late to the ball, but an interesting fact I found is that the listed price for a new 2002 Th!nk was around 160' NOK which translates to around 16' USD. How they managed to list it at 36' USD in 2011 is mindblowing...
well now you know why they went out of business selling those cars
1). Norway taxes the crap out of cars IIRC
2) with some battery and power electronics/charging updates it's probably as good a very small EV as one could build today.
It's got lamborghini diablo tail lights!!
Yep.
Which in turn has lights from a tractor of sorts
They're actually just generic Hella taillights that are commonly used on European trucks.
Diablo lights are generic circle ones lol, I can see them everywhere (buses, trailers, zondas, diablos, other automobiles
taunusv4power nope
I do remember hearing about the ThInk City a while back when NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles) were a big deal in the news...then the whole thing just seemed to drop off the face of the Earth and I never heard anything more about them.
I love seeing these videos in my notifications
I died with the sound of the steering pump hahahahaha
I think the way that brake pump was rythmically wiggling was quite funny! I don't know what one wins :)
@@volvo09 *th!nk
[Angry pump noises]
I got to ride in a Ford Th!nk in New York City back in 2000 during The American Tour De Sol. The one I rode in was Blue and from what I remember it was pretty peppy. Thanks for bringing back the memories. I was there as a competitor and I had nearly forgotten about the ride in the Th!nk.
Neighbor down the street had one for a couple of years and always drove it around town. I did notice that the plastic was slowly fading. Last year he replaced it with a Volt.
Not only have a heard about it.. a friend of my worked at the factory as a logistics paper pusher over a few years
The sodium battery should last about 72 hours with out recharging. The thing is. When the car is driven, the batteries freeze up as the batteries get discharged. This is actually how the energy is stored.. So the car is losing a stedy state of range when its not in the charger.
This is actually true about all electric cars, but for a modern lithium powered car, we are really talking about years, not days
11:20 Mac n Cheese Ram is in the driver window.
11:21 Mac n Cheese Ram is behind the Th!nk
11:31 Mac n Cheese Ram is in front.
I'm calling hax.
If it goes faster than 5 mph in drive, it's already better than your Wheego! lol
Youre a hidden gem, never stop making videos.
I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A THINK CITY VIDEO FOR SO LONG!!! Thanks!!!!!
Why do the vehicles you drive evolve more and more into a power wheels jeep?
I also drove a Vanguard CitiCar that day. It's even more power wheelsy
Someone needs to make a bigger street legal power wheels jeep (electric too, and paint the batterys blue).
I’m sure that one is coming up eventually
Next epsiode will be a Power Wheels Jeep.
Hopefully in Barbie Pink.
@@CardboardSliver Tyler Hoover's daughter has one, she could probably hook him up.
Great Video! I live in Elkhart, In. and I have been an electric car Enthusiast for many years. The first Electric car I ever drove/ worked on was the Commuta Car. My career experience is in Electronics, so when I heard that Think was coming to Elkhart, I had visions of working for the company. I was delivering pizza at the time and saw how the Think would be valuable to deliver pizza. I got ahold of a representative of the company ( who drove down from Detroit, I found out later)for a test drive. I got to drive the car around Elkhart. I mentioned what I wanted to use it for and the Rep somehow thought I wanted buy a fleet of them for the pizza company. I repeated multiple times in the original call that I wanted to test ONE for my own use. So as the test drive ended, the rep seriously wanted to know how many I wanted to buy, when I said I was only interested in one, I got the distinct impression he was under the impression I would buy quantity.... I got a tour of the "Factory " and saw maybe 20 vehicles in process.. I found out this factoid.. the car was about 90% built in Norway, and shipped to Elkhart for the tail light system to be installed and a few other things put on the car to make it U.S. road legal. I was told that the tail lights were different in Norway and that it would NOT meet U.S. auto standards as is from Norway.. So Elkhart was more of a staging facility than an actual 'from-raw-materials-to-complete -car' factory I thought it was. I very much enjoyed the drive and got more enthused about E-Drive vehicles. Think did not have any lease program in force, so purchase was only option, so sticker price was definitely a non-starter... after the tour, I realized that a career there for me was essentially nonexistent.
As a side note, the next town east , Mishawaka, Is the home of a Chinese Electric car company that is re-tooling the former H2 Hummer plant for U.S. Sales... I know next to nothing about this company, but am keeping eyes and ears open to what they can produce there..
This is where to start if you are interested...
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.southbendtribune.com/news/business/sf-motors-unveils-electric-vehicles-to-be-made-in-mishawaka/article_4ba28606-fe2e-5889-b5c1-ffade0d140cb.amp.html&ved=2ahUKEwi8z7u2443gAhUr7IMKHeS3AbYQFjAAegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0NVk2NMks37IEXfdMwTYuq&cf=1&cshid=1548585771701
I grew up in Mishawaka and was going to school in Elkhart around 2012. I had no idea they made anything but RVs there, that's all you can see driving by on the toll road.
Ok, this is strange. I saw one of these last week here in Monterey California, and though to myself that I should take a pic of this and send it to you to see if you have seen one. Obviously you have! Thanks for the vid, now when I see it again, I'll ask the owner about it and see if I can get more info!
2:20 omg i love how he spelles battery backwords :)))))
A sub 25k price, electric power steering and an modern 30 kw battery this would work. Today. I know it would be an awesome second car in the Caribbean. This is what I would hope an Honda electric car would be like. More quality slightly more room and an sub 30k price. Hopefully just as basic. Manual controls and analog gauges.
For 25k you can get a Renault Zoé with a 44kwh battery
But not in the U.S.
So, a Nissan leaf.
@@InvidiousIgnoramus Ewww... Pitiful battery care
Fun Fact: The prince in Norway still owns one of these to this day lol
I’m not all too interesten in cars, but your commentary is so hilarious I’m having a great time watching all your videos!
You would not believe how excited I get when you upload a video! You're awesome
12:41 Lucky he didn't see that white car almost sideswipe him, he would've freaked out!
Having left Norway in 2012, I did not expect to ever see an ELBIL* again...! So this is a very pleasant surprise!
Saw these little buggers parked everywhere in Oslo when I used to frequent it (something to do with huge financial and mobility incentives to go electric, which they dropped when everyone got Teslas and it clogged the initiative to death), they were a bit of a joke, but with their relative ubiquity, they must've been doing something right!
(*"Bil" meaning "car", so ELectric car. No one ever called these by their brand name, just "ELBIL" in a somewhat snide tone to denote their joke status. I assume e-cars since then have taken on a bit of a better image...!)
Incentives still exist.
They just now announced an end to the incentives, and the Tesla buyers are pissed
Now that is the cutest car I have ever seen.
Norwegia lol
"Hail, hail Norwegia
A land I didn't make up"
I was also little concerned, this is how you spell the name of the country here in Poland, but I wouldn't expect enywhere else..
@@blinski1 tak, ale polski język jest kompletnie inny od angielskiego.
What's wrong?
that subtitle scene was great, do more fourth wall breaking stuff
I just love your videos, And sarcastic humor (souds like me)
Thank you for finding all of the weird small electric cars aging wheels. Now do a video on one of those weird golf cart type electric cars that came out around 08 and were limited to 40 or 45mph they have a egg shape roof. That would make an interesting video
Thanks to you bro. I saw one of these the other day in coconut grove florida. Hung out until the owner came back to his car and got to check it out. Cool beans man
1:37 into the video; I already recognize the door handles as being from a Ford Mondeo Mk III or a circa 2006 American Ford Fusion.
Update: Ford Focus wheel and steering stalks; Ford Ka instrument cluster.
Yes! they are the exactly same! I never knew what they were off of, thank you!
I had a 1979 Chevy Chevette and it did 16 seconds in the quarter mile! :-)
Hertz in Palo Alto, CA used to rent these. We called it "The Cooler" in honor of its plastic exterior. The rear hatch was quite nice.
Awesome concept, ahead of its time
0:22 is that the yellow electric pyramid car from the oil crysis in the background or is it just me?
It is. He is in the same place I think with the same guy.
12:40
It's better than that pos 90's cavalier it's passing. Had one have the door and engine mounts rot out and drop off
I love how you were undermined by subtitles
I've only heard of liquid salt batteries being used in very temporary engines, like ones that are designed to only last for about a minute before being destroyed completely. i never would have guessed a car would use one
This is the original Focus Electric, you know, from the old Focus
I live in Arizona. I'd go out to my driveway and find a pile of pink goo where the car was.
If that was true your car's interior would have melted a long time ago.
@@newworldodor2641 My aunt had a Renault and the gauge needles did melt, so there! 😁
I remember these. Looks like this new model has come a long way compared to the ones 20 years ago. My father had one around the year 2000. Was more at a workshop getting fixed than on the road. The final trip with the car resulted in a broken drive shaft because it couldn't handle the immense power from the 25 HP motor in his model. He told the dealer which ditch it was stuck in and that he didn't want to see it again. Oh, and the user manual literally said to not use the heater in the winter (if you had the electric one), which is why many had diesel heaters. Norway also have strict regulations regarding swapping battery packs for other types, forcing you to use the same type as the old one. Swapping a Think battery pack costs around 15.000 USD, so most are just paperweights now.
This is the most adorable car I have ever seen
! th!nk th!s th!ng !s !nterest!ng
still wouldn't choose to buy one though.
! !
[___]
St!ll*
FTFY
@@Mr-Trox Not at $30k+
Ruined it. ! Th!nk th!s th!nk !s !nterest!ng
Cool! I have been waiting for someone to review it, I don't th!nk Fully Charged ever did.
5:48 I lost it at the furiously vibrating vacuum pump.🤣😆
Geez, I feel old. I remember seeing these on display at the NAIAS where - if memory serves - they showcased the small hatchback, a golf cart-esque vehicle, and I think a small sedan.
I'd love a small sedan like this especially if it was sorta sporty
Did you actually just say "Norwegia"?
H Z 1 him or norwegians?
It is correct Norvégia and people are norvégok! He said it perfectly :)
@@TeternalGIone wrong.
@@alexo1989 elaborate
@@cherrypepsi2815 Norway is the country. And we speak Norwegian
Isn't plentiful hydroelectric power the reason Norway and neighboring countries have so many Teslas?
Nope, the only reason people buy them is because the goverment subsidies the car with around 50000$ Its a car for snobs and people who like beeing watched, I've never personally met anyone who bougth it to save the environment. Plus, some of the hydroelectric power are sold out of the country so basicly they run on coal and nuclear made power from time to time :p Also electric cars does go through toll booths for free, also free parking. So in bigger cities it really does pay off to get an electric car :p
Per Arne Slåttsveen yes but oil is way more expensive than electricity
Indeed it is, but its not particulary environment friendly if the power comes from coal. For a city situation I completely understand buying an electric car. But as soon as you have to pay the full price for a tesla, and pay for parking and toll booths. Nobody will buy an electric car anymore :p
How much is a tesla new in finland? Any subsidies from the goverment for electric cars?
Actually The Th!nk City is the reason the Norway has the highest ratio of EV/Fossil fuel Vehicle in the world, because they wanted to help start a Norwegian car industry! , (my hypothesis :-) )
that thing is cool, my dad is an engineer and designed some interior parts for this car when they were developing it
I love the bit with you cruising right next to a bright blue cavalier
T.H.BANG.N.K... City. Had me laughing too much, had to rewind 😂
You seem to have a strange love for these cars, doctor. ;)
I would want a tiny electric car like this with 2 seats, a tiny trunk, and batteries that I can bring into my apartment and charge indoors then bring them back out and plug them in. Only need like 30-50 mile range to get around town, as I can't ride a bike or walk any significant distance, but I don't drive far.
2:20 Oh geez... I nearly fell off the sofa from laughing so hard! Thanks, I needed that. 🤣
Norwegia? Oh right that's next to Canadia and Germania.
And Dania
Australia! Bugger, that don't work ...... Fuggit..
Americans live in America
Romanians live in Romania
Canadians live in Canadia
Norwegians live in Norwegia
It all makes sense!
@@mathieuclement8011 i thought it was Americia
Germania is germany in italian
Aside from Doug DeMuro, your my favourite youtuber.
+ Hoovies
*you're
Qretan who made you the grammar police?
Car Talk A diploma of English. :)
What about Hoovies garage & RCR?
I don't know why but the part where he says people in cities occasionally like to still things gets me everytime
I love the sun fade on the body panels. That's how you know a real high-quality plastic was used. My neighbor used to have a Yamaha side-by-side ATV that was exactly the same color by about the sixth month he owned it.
Also, "molten sodium" is really high on the list of things I don't want in my car. Or anywhere else around me.
Part of the idea behind this car was that it was almost completely recyclable. The plastic body panels are made from recycled plastics.
@@Karreth Well, in that case, maybe they _were_ a Yamaha side-by-side ATV first. :)
(As an aside, all cars are "almost completely recyclable". People have been recycling cars since long before recycling was fashionable, except back then we called the recycling facilities "junkyards".)
I hope you review the Troll car too.
12:36 Easy there, Cruze.
I think I saw one of these in Norway ages ago! Also, I know it may not directly match with your car niche but I would love to see you review the Fisker Karma and give us a rundown of their history as well as more recent developments as they've (sort of) been resurrected as far as I last recall. Probably the most famous electric oddball of the decade!
The Karma wasn't electric. Just a hybrid.
It may be because I grew up with the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, but I just absolutely adore the aesthetics of this Th!nk City car.
is that a 2002 ford focus steering wheel?
Yes indeed
2:23
0:19 citicar comutacar in the far right
I saw one of these things in person today for the first time at a stop light, it really is an adorable little car. Pulled up and saw that all glass hatch and thought “no way” but then saw the logo and got excited. This one was black and looks like the sun hadn’t done any damage to the color. The driver looked to be having the time of his life too.
Oh, man, I love your sense of humor!
If you th!nk Norways contribution to the electric car market is bad, you should see Denmark's. Look up "Ellert" on google.
Sadly, the Buddy is not in production any more... :(
One word: oof
@@kristenburnout1 Buddy makes electric bikes now, though. Good electric biks.
dang, that thing weighs more than my 4 door 06 rio and has less than half the power, that really sucks
The electric motor is a significant advantage though. It has a better 0-60 time than my Smart ForFour with 71 gasoline horses.
"If you're trying to find the limits of adhesion you'll end up hitting a pedestrian or smacking into a building or something"
by far my favorite line of the vid
Just saw one today in Pori, Finland.
Never heard of it before. Had to check this because of that.
T H ! N K
Aretha?
Once, my buddy called to proudly tell me he'd bought a Yugo, and wanted my help to go get it in Pennsylvania. This just triggered that whole nightmare again. Great video!
Just crush it, and send it by UPS.
Excellent review and a wonderful channel and style! Keep it up!! You should do merchandise, t-shirts or caps etc..
Link in the description
Suomi mainittu!!
Back then they wanted $36,000 dollars for this trash? This car makes the Prius look like high luxury.
Two reasons: Large production figures spreading the costs of tooling and production over many vehicles is the reason why other cars are cheaper - and they couldn't do it as a small upstart company. The other is obviously the batteries, which likely made up more than half of the price.
'Common folks, this guys' dry humor alone (Clarkson esk) deserves 1mill subs !
I like that backwards "battery" text you snuck in there.
Yeh norwegian car !
8:31 "soft cups only"
puts in a glass bottle
I totally lost it at the “furiously vibrating vacuum pump”
"underminded by a subtitle" - loving it
Why does it have hood vent
Maybe they are air conditioning vents
Where is norwigia?
Is that a state? xD
"Hail, hail Norwegia
A land I didn't make up".
Norway is the capital country of Scandinavia :))
Between Austria and Australia Bush said.
I was most interested in that 3rd Gen Cavalier coupe in the background of the test drive. Super clean and seemingly rust free
I like the fact that it was built in Elkhart, Indiana. He's right about the RVs that are built there, but I'm reminded of the VPG MV-1, a wheelchair van that's bulit in nearby Mishawaka.
"norwegia" as a norwegiaian this is mega laugh