Think announces U.S. electric-vehicle factory plans

While your everyday traditional automakers are closing down their facilities due to the current economic conditions, Norwegian electric-car maker Think (aka Th!nk) said today that it plans on opening a new manufacturing plant in the United States.

Think said that the new facility will employ about 300 workers and will have an initial capacity of producing 16,000 cars per year. The plant will also provide jobs for 70 engineers and electric drive specialists. Ultimately, Think plans on adding 900 employees with a capacity of 60,000 electric vehicles per year.

Think said the plant will be responsible for building the Th!nk city, an all-electric car is capable of traveling 112 miles on a single charge. U.S. production is expected to start in 2010 with the first round of 2,500 Th!ink city cars being made available for demo fleet projects.

Th!nk North America is an Ann Arbor this week meeting with representatives from the state of Michigan to discuss bringing electric-vehicle manufacturing jobs to the United States. Of course, we’re guessing Michigan is really excited about this.

Think will be meeting with a total of eight states to host its EV plant.

– By: Omar Rana