Think and Japanese Trading Firm Itochu Expand Alliance
By John O'Dell July 22, 2010
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Selling electric cars is one way for a small auto company to make money, selling the brains that make them work is another and in the short term is potentially more profitable.
That seems to be the thinking behind the decision by Japanese trading company Itochu Corp. to take an equity stake in Norwegian EV-maker Think and to begin selling Think's EV control system to other companies.
The controller, called the G4 EV Drive Controller, is the electronic "brain" that links batteries, motors, regenerative braking and all the other parts of an EV system into a cohesive unit.
Think, which has been around for almost two decades, is now on the fourth generation of the brain box - hence the "G4" designation - and already has been purchased by Mazda, for use in an upcoming fleet of Mazda2-based EV prototypes, and by the Japanese postal service for use in converting postal vans to electric drive.
Think CEO Richard Canny told Green Car Advisor in a telephone interview that he sees sales of the controller as a valuable income stream while Think ratchets up sales of its urban EV, the two-seat Think City, and begins developing new models and planning for the brand's introduction in the U.S. late next year.
Neither company is saying how much Itochu, a $130-billion global giant, invested in Think.
The two companies have had a strategic alliance since last year, when Itochu signed on to market the Think City in Asia.
The 150-year-old trading company also is a minority stakeholder in lithium-ion battery company EnerDel, which supplies Think's batteries and whose parent, New York-based Ener1, is Think's controlling shareholder after helping pull the car maker out of bankruptcy last year.
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