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" The electric-car company with the catchy name\u2014Think\u2014recently unveiled plans to re-enter the U.S. market. You might remember the brief time that Ford owned Think and the runabout electric vehicles the company sold here between 1999 and 2003. Those EVs were  neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs), and when compared to a real passenger car, they were a lot like glorified golf carts. The company left the U.S when Ford bailed on the project. Since then, Think has retrenched in its home country of Norway. They now have a new car, dubbed the City, that the company believes could satisfy the needs of many U.S. commuters. With increased focus in Washington on electric vehicles\u2014and the possibility of large EV tax credits\u2014Think could ride the wave of EVs that many think will reshape our car fleet. The company&amp;#039;s even planning on building its cars here. Let&amp;#039;s check out the details. \u2014Larry Webster  The Specs  The two-seat City is a foot longer and a few inches wider than the current poster-boy of pint-size cars\u2014the Smart car. The company claims it weighs 2300 pounds, which seems like a lot for such a tiny tot.   But of course this EV has to haul around 500 pounds of batteries. For use in the City, Think currently installs either a lithium- or sodium-based battery with about 25 kilowatt-hours of storage capacity. In both cases, the batteries lie under the floor of the car, with their own steel structure that&amp;#039;s meant to accommodate more than one type of battery. The idea is to remain flexible in case a new battery technology emerges.   The plastic body hangs on a separate aluminum structure that bolts to the battery chassis. The company claims that the car meets all current European crash regulations and will also meet U.S standards.   So in other words, it will be a real car, fit for highway use. Some upgrading will be required, however, for the City to keep pace with gasoline cars. At present, the City&amp;#039;s 47-hp electric motor can propel it to 62 mph. The company says that a 67-hp motor will be fitted to U.S. models and will pull the car to 70 mph.   And for the technogeeks, there will be software that allows owners to precondition the interior with a few mobile-phone clicks. It sounds pretty cool.  The Drive  The Think&amp;#039;s width, or lack of it, is what you notice first. The City is narrow\u2014the two passengers are only an inch or so apart. There&amp;#039;s a surplus of headroom however and the dash, fitted with plenty of Ford switch gear. So it looks like just about every other economy car.   That is, until you turn the key. Rotate the key to the temporary &amp;quot;start&amp;quot; position, just like a Honda Civic. But of course there&amp;#039;s no noise or rumble, just a clattering sound from the vacuum pump\u2014it&amp;#039;s for the assisted brakes\u2014that runs for a few seconds and then turns off.   A center-mounted shifter offers two drive positions. In &amp;quot;D,&amp;quot; the driver gets all 47 galloping horses and not much brake regeneration. Sliding the lever to &amp;quot;E&amp;quot; dramatically cuts acceleration and engages an aggressive regeneration mode.   We only drove the City for a few miles, but those miles brought this car&amp;#039;s personality to light. The City has that crisp step-off acceleration common to all electric cars, and it feels punchy. But acceleration quickly trails off. Think says the zero-to-60 mph time of the City is over 15 seconds. That, folks, is slow. However, in that first second of foot-to-the-floor throttle, there&amp;#039;s a hint of real power underhood. The vehicle hums quietly most of the time, but the clattering intermittent vacuum pump is a real annoyance. A fix is in the works.   The Think feels tall and tippy, as the shape suggests it might. Yet the structure is solid and the ride is reasonably compliant. And unlike the Think NEVs of the past, we can say that this one drives like a real car.  The Bottom Line  Many automakers now quote studies that say the average commuter drives less than 40 miles a day. Think claims the City will have range over 100 miles, which sounds impressive to us. The company says that the U.S.-spec car will sell for about $20,000\u2014after the tax rebates. That sounds like a lot for a car that you can&amp;#039;t drive for much more than 100 miles between 10-hour recharges. And before we commit to saying the City has respectable highway performance, we&amp;#039;ll have to test drive one for a longer length of time. Our initial impression is that the highway may not be the most comfortable place for the City\u2014or its passengers. But the success of the Smart (thousands have been sold) suggests that there are plenty of folks that want small, efficient city cars. Electric versions make a lot of sense because they&amp;#039;re cheaper to run and require far less maintenance. Think says it will begin fleet sales in 2010 and consumer sales the following year.    "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a3967/4308689/>