TH!NK electric car on sale this year

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by GoCarGo

Although clearly a better automotive choice, I don't see anyone calculating any cost increase associated with electricity. I believe we will see the average nationwide (USA) price DOUBLE within a decade.

no doubt true... but in some areas. unlike gasoline, electricity is something that people are somewhat more entitled to. it keeps you warm which could a life and death situation so its price is very strictly regulated. no one really cares if you are forced to take a bus or walk, keeping warm to live is another story

huge price increases will not happen everywhere. sure in certain places it will happen, but most of the country will go elsewhere first simply because they will not be allowed to pass on the entire cost of fuel to the consumer. in many places, including mine, pricing is pretty much fixed and it has been for years.

i do pay more for my electricity but only because my area used to enjoy a HUGE subsidy paid to us by the government for the Bonneville Power Administration. (the collection of dams that line the Columbia) we were receiving kickbacks because we lived in the area where the power is coming from....well they stopped that. so my base rate for electricity is 6½ cents/kwh. premium rate is 9.1 cents... 5 years ago, the base rate was 5½ cents, premium rate was 7½ cents... relatively small increase to be honest with ya...no need to talk about gas prices.

now i do pay more because before after the Bonneville kickback, my base rate was only about 4¼ cents...(ya...kickback was around 20-25%...*sigh*.... wish i had my Zenn back then...)

also, its always been said that solar and wind will emerge when cost of gas and oil gets high enough, after the initial startup costs, it will be waaay cheap. so that will also prevent a huge rise in cost...now keep in mind, CA is a different story, but they have been paying crazy prices for EVERYTHING for years

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by MountainStone

...... The expected retail price of TH!NK city is UKP14,000.' So for just under $28,000 dollars this cute little thing meets my (and millions of others') commuting needs.....

You can't just convert the UK price from GBP to USD to get the US price for a car. Brits and Europeans pay about 50% more for the same cars that are on sale in the US. For example, a BMW 335i is 31,000 GBP in the UK which converts to $62,000 at the current conversion rate. However, if you buy the car in the US it is only $38,000. I would expect that the TH!NK will be about $18,000 to $20,000 if it goes on sale in the US.

[MountainStone]

Originally Posted by jhinton

You can't just convert the UK price from GBP to USD to get the US price for a car. Brits and Europeans pay about 50% more for the same cars that are on sale in the US. For example, a BMW 335i is 31,000 GBP in the UK which converts to $62,000 at the current conversion rate. However, if you buy the car in the US it is only $38,000. I would expect that the TH!NK will be about $18,000 to $20,000 if it goes on sale in the US.

I hope you are correct. $28K seemed a little high for this car, though I dunno a fair price for a robust EV drivetrain. If this thing could be sold profitably at $20K, TH!NK will need that advice they are seeking from Porsche on how to increase manufacturing efficiencies because demand will be spectacular.

It'd be sweet if TH!NK could get back in bed with Ford. TH!NK needs the dealer network and I can foresee a need for US manufacturing of which Ford will soon have excess capacity. Ford can use the EV knowledge and the customers. I need to check if TH!NK is publicly traded...