Not enough variety in the electric car market? TH!NK again!

Th!nk, an electric car company based in Norway, plans to open a U.S. manufacturing plant, hopefully in the Southwest. Th!nk hopes to begin production of their 112 mile-range, all-electric car in 2010 and pump out 16,000 cars annually. Eventually, the company may produce upwards of 60,000 vehicles annually and employ 900 people in the United States.
The Southwest would be ideal since environmentally-conscious California is nearby and the wide-open spaces of Nevada and Arizona allow for flexibility in design. With the hard-hit Las Vegas economy, thanks in part to Obama's bashing of company trips to Sin City, Southern Nevada could use the jobs. In addition, a new plant in Southern Nevada could easily be eco-friendly and solar-powered, with the Southwest offering the best year-round sun in the US.
Th!nk North America said it will apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, created in 2007 to develop fuel-efficient vehicles. Last June, the US Department of Energy said it would contribute up to $30 million over three years for three cost-shared Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) demonstration and development projects. Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, who makes the my favorite electric sportscar, is among those applying for federal funds.

RIP SUV

General Motors executives voted to cancel plans to develop the next generation of the full-size sport utility vehicle, essentially erecting a R.I.P. headstone on the SUV market. According to the New York Times, "...the era of the big S.U.V. was ... done in by soaring gasoline prices and consumers fleeing to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars."

Earning an estimated $10,000 to $15,000 on every SUV it sold, GM lived off and even accelerated development of trucks and SUV's to offset shrinking passenger car revenues. But this year, sales have tumbled more than 30 percent this year and have been in decline since 2004.

All of the Big Three have had to close plants and lay off thousands of workers. "In the second quarter alone, G.M. took $1.3 billion in write-offs to reflect the drop in the value of trucks and S.U.V.’s coming off lease. Overdependence on big S.U.V.’s has also hit Ford and Chrysler hard, but, as the biggest producer, G.M. had the most to lose," according to the New York Times.

"Analysts see little point now in second-guessing G.M.’s huge commitment to the S.U.V. market when gas was cheap and Americans bought the vehicles in droves. ...Yet by focusing so heavily on bigger products for so many years, G.M. put off investing in cars that consumers want now. The company is also struggling to dismantle the truck-making infrastructure it had so diligently erected."

G.M. still expects to sell some SUV's, but not nearly as many. Instead, they will make an effort to catch up in the small-car and hybrid arenas.