Ford Motor Co. (Detroit, MI) recently announced an independent new brand, Th!nk Group, under which it plans to sell a variety of environmentally friendly products, including electric cars and bikes.
The Th!nk Group will have two organizations, Th!nk Technologies and Th!nk Mobility. Th!nk Mobility is a limited liability corporation that will offer a line of battery electric vehicles and is wholly owned by Ford Motor. Th!nk Mobility also includes an Internet site, http://www.thinkmobility.com, for ordering its Th!nk Neighbor, a personal-mobility, low-speed vehicle; its Th!nk bike; and Th!nk bike traveler electric bicycles.
The Th!nk Neighbor is a golf-cart-like open vehicle designed for use in closed communities, with a limited speed up to 25mph. The Neighbor will have an estimated price of about $6,000. The two Th!nk bikes have ranges of up to 30 miles and will cost between $1,000 and $1,200 each.
"Th!nk is the organization that will provide us ingenious mobility solutions for the new millennium," said Ford President and Chief Executive Jac Nasser. "It is further proof of the company's commitment to connecting with the customer."
Ford also recently announced it was committing to selling a hybrid-gas-electric sedan by 2003. The unnamed vehicle would use an internal combustion engine mated to an electric motor. The vehicle will be based on Ford's work with a federal government program aimed at producing a car that gets 80mpg.
