Poor Demand Prompts Ford to Pull Plug on Think Electric Vehicle
(9/2/2002)
September 2, 2002–- Citing poor customer demand and “lack of government support,” Ford Motor Co. has pulled the plug on its Think electric vehicle division. Ford had high hopes for the environmentally friendly auto when it paid some $23 million for Norway-based electric vehicle company Pivco Industries and renamed it Think in 1999.
"We're very disappointed about it, but the market for the battery-operated vehicles has turned out to be a business that we really can't sustain," Ford spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said.
When Think started production of the Think City electric car in Norway nearly three years ago, officials said they hoped to make 5,000 a year. But production since then has only totaled a little below 1,050 cars.
Tatchio said the Dearborn-based automaker plans to focus on other technologies for cleaner-running cars and trucks, including hydrogen fuel cells and the gas-electric hybrid SUV Escape, due to debut in late 2003.
The Think City, a two-seater, plastic-bodied hatchback sold in Europe, has a range of about 53 miles in city driving and requires up to six hours for a recharge.
Ford shares were up 21 cent, or 1.8 percent, at $11.84 in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The world's second-largest automaker is in the midst of a turnaround plan after a $5.45 billion loss last year that includes plant closings to cut costs.
Other automakers have also backed away from pure electric vehicles. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, spent over $1 billion to develop the GM EV1 electric vehicle in the 1990s. But the EV1 also suffered from a limited range of less than 100 miles before it needed hours of recharging time, and GM stopped building the EV1 a few years ago.
"Battery electric vehicles are not there yet technologically," said Jim Kliesch, a research associate with the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and co-author of "The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks."
Electric vehicles cost thousands of dollars more than similarly sized cars because of the expensive batteries, which need replacing after a few years, he said. "Nobody has found a way to build a battery that is cheap, can quickly recharge and allows you to drive long distances," Kliesch added.
Government regulations pushing for so-called zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars, which emit no smog-producing exhaust, have also been pushed back.
California's regulations forcing automakers to offer up to 100,000 electric cars and other low-pollution vehicles on the road each year were scheduled to go into effect with the 2003 model year.
But GM won a court injunction delaying that order, and automotive executives expect that the state will rewrite its regulations to allow for more vehicles that emit a low amount of exhaust, such as hybrid vehicles that pair batteries with gasoline engines.
Hybrid cars, such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius and Honda Motor Co.'s Insight, have sold well since they arrived on the market a few years ago.
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