Norwegian electric car company Think may have reached the end of the road.
The company, which has been plagued by financial difficulties for years, has filed for bankruptcy.
US battery company Ener1 (Nasdaq: HEV) is expected to lose its $35.4 million investment in the company, as well as one of its principle customers.
The Think City vehicle was one of the first electric cars to hit the European market in 2008, but the company quickly ran out of cash and narrowly avoided bankruptcy that December when Ener1 stepped in with a bridge loan.
At a price of roughly $40,000, the two-seater vehicle did not sell well, and the company had trouble establishing a dealer network. But by May 2010, things appeared to be on track following a new round of funding and a shift of manufacturing to Finland’s Valmet Automotive.
The company announced plans for North American Manufacturing in Elkhart Indiana and delivered its first US vehicles for use by the Indiana state government in December 2010.
Think also decided to drop the sticker price to $34,000 to better compete with the Nissan Leaf. But the company has been unable to find the capital needed to continue operations, according to Ener1.
With other established players coming on the market – such as Ford and Mitsubishi - the startup has apparently decided to call it quits and liquidate operations.
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Not a surprise… Think produced a Yugo of an EV: bare bones, minimalistic transportation… A plastic bodied two seater for $34k.