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Photo Gallery: Think City Assembly Plant Tour, Elkhart, Indiana

 
1,079 views Mar 7, 2011
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Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011

HI-RES GALLERY: Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011
  • Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011

During the Detroit Auto Show in January, we visited the Think electric-car assembly plant in Elkhart, Indiana.

It's not necessarily a place you'd expect to find electric cars being put together, but the rows of electric two-seat hatchbacks in blue, red, and black turned out to be surprisingly photogenic.


In many ways, the plant isn't what you imagine a car factory to be. It's fairly quiet, for one thing.

But seeing hundreds of brand-new electric cars moving from station to station, or parked in neat rows after their final inspections, was impressive enough that we shot many more photos than we'd expected to.

Here are a couple of galleries of our favorites. With luck, you'll feel like you too walked out of the snow and into the huge building full of electric two-seat Think City hatchbacks.

We'll follow up the visuals with an article on the Think company, including interviews with executives and what they hope to accomplish.

Stay tuned for that one. And meanwhile, enjoy these images.

Think USA provided transport (in a rented Toyota Sienna) and a (very tasty) boxed lunch to enable High Gear Media to bring you this onsite report.

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HI-RES GALLERY: Think City assembly plant, Elkhart, Indiana, Jan 2011




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Comments (5)

  1. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 3/7/2011 11:32am PST

    Do they ship them on pallets from Europe? Guess I am surprised they are not just sitting on their own four wheels.
     
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  2. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 3/7/2011 2:32pm PST

    @John: If they come in on pallets minus wheels and powertrain, they are not "cars" but components, which allows them to receive different import status and possibly also tax treatment. They are considered to be U.S. made cars because the powertrains and other high-value components are added here. It's roughly similar to the way Tesla and Coda work. Think says it intends to increase local sourcing over time.
     
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  3. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 3/8/2011 5:27am PST

    Interesting approach. Not to be argumentative (never, right) but it looks like they have wheels and are mounted on the pallets. Perhaps without the drivetrain installed, the car cannot be rolled around anyway, so the pallet keeps things together.
    Then again, maybe this just simplifies moving the gliders around until they are fully assembled.
    Anyway, thanks for the post. Great pictures. Personally, I think it is a tough road ahead for Th!nk, but I wish them well.
     
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  4. fb_100000458268753 avatar Neil Blanchard Posted: 3/8/2011 6:03am PST

    Thanks for the first hand report, John. Will you get to drive one, as well?
    Neil
     
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  5. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 3/8/2011 6:08am PST

    @Neil: I drove one briefly, but the next article on the topic will be a longer one on Think's plans for the factory and details of the process. Stay tuned!
     
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