Running repairs complete, Think restarts its (electric) engine

Norwegian electric car firm Think announced yesterday that it is back in business, after the courts approved the formerly cash-strapped firms' debt settlement plan and agreed it could leave court protection.

The company, which halted production and sought court protection earlier this year amid reports it was on the brink of bankruptcy, said that it has secured $47m (£29m) in fresh funding and is now back on track to deliver the next model of its electric car, the Think City, by the end of the year.

The new funding has been provided by a group of investors, including US lithium-ion battery specialist Ener1 and Valmet Automotive of Finland – both of which will also play a key role in the restructuring of the firm.

As part of the deal, Think has extended its existing supply deal with Ener1's subsidiary EnerDel and agreed to move its manufacturing operations to Valmet's plant in Finland, where intriguingly the car will be built alongside Fisker Automotive's high-end Karma plug in hybrid, as well as the Porsche Boxster and Cayman. Fisker also utilises Ener1's battery technology in its vehicles.

The move will result in operations at Think's Norwegian manufacturing plant being suspended indefinitely with the loss of more than 80 jobs.

"With this group of shareholders offering the financial backing and support needed to get Think back into production, we are very excited about what the future holds for this company," said Think chief executive Richard Canny. " Establishing production in Finland and expanding our sales organisation around Europe is going to keep us extremely busy in the coming months – but we are very confident, the Think City is literally ready for sale and we look forward to delivering the first of our customers’ new cars this side of 2010."

The company said that the latest version of the Think City would deliver a range of 180km between charges, boast a top speed of 100km/h and represent the only compact electric car to be granted pan-European regulatory safety approval and CE certification.