On Sept. 1, Ford announced that because of a sharp drop in sales last month its vehicles were piling up in the warehouses, and so they would cut back car and truck production by 7.8 percent. Around that same time, I was madly sending messages to Ford via the Rainforest Action Network (http://www.ran.org) that automatically composes letters like "Dear Mr. Ford: I am writing to express my deep concern about your company's disproportionate contribution to America's oil addiction and the global warming crisis."
Madly, I guess, because the Republican National Convention was going on, half a million people were in the street protesting, and I was stuck at home on my laptop. I had to have my voice heard, in some way, if only through a computerized whine. While I was scratching my head about how politicians used to lie about what they were going to do in office, and now they lie about what they've actually DONE in office, I went to Ford's Web site and checked out the latest on the Think, their electric vehicle program.
Thinks are the weird little electric cars you may have seen in a couple large cities (San Francisco, New York), dodging among the skyscrapers, rare as white bison. They are two-seaters, powered by a liquid-cooled three-phase AC induction motor, electrified by 19 nickel cadmium batteries. They have a range of 55 miles in between charges, which takes about eight hours to fully recharge. New York City had an incentive program for people using the zero emission cars, with free charging stations in commuter train parking lots and a monthly insurance reduction credit.
The midget cars have steel and aluminum frames and are covered with recyclable plastic bodywork that has an unglossy matte finish, similar to the chunky plastic look of an ice cooler. In short, they are spunky and cute, not sleek and refined.
Ford, in the heyday of its SUV money, bought the Think company from a Norwegian manufacturer in the late 1990s. At the time, Jac Nasser was the CEO, and was interested in trying out new technologies and expanding Ford's combustion engine palette. California's zero emission mandate was set in place, and automakers were attempting to comply by building at least a few thousand zero emission vehicles. Think was to be a brand name within Ford Motor Company and would encompass any alternatives (including fuel cell technology) within that brand. The Think electric cars were a point of national pride in Norway, where they were the first mass-produced vehicles manufactured, before being purchased by Ford.
But with the auto industry winning the legal battle against California's program of mandates for zero emissions (a judge decided that it was up to the federal government to regulate auto emissions) in 2002, Ford shut down its electric vehicle program. Now the most recent loss is Ford's gutting of the whole line of Think electric vehicles—Think City, Think Neighbor (looks like a golf cart) and Think Bike (electric bicycle)—so that they can "concentrate [their] resources on the development of Fuel Cells."
Not only are they discontinuing them, they were going to CRUSH the Thinks! To protest, Think-leasers in San Francisco staged funerals for these beloved cars a few weeks ago, draping American flags over their Thinks, playing "Taps" and honoring the cars' 34-month long service of preventing deadly greenhouse gases.
Ford and other American automakers have always hid behind consumer desire to explain their need to build inflated SUVs, but I've always thought that if there really was a desire, it was only fueled by the company's advertising budget. Advertising works for only so long—when realities like a slumping economy, astronomical gas prices and massive unemployment catch up. Then Ford has to cut 7.8 percent of its production. In a telling parallel, a car that Ford almost never advertised or supported, the Think, is on the chopping block, and electric vehicle fans are mourning. The message Ford should be hearing is: build something good and they will come.
Up until last week, all offers to buy the condemned Thinks have been met with silence. Elbil Norge, a Norwegian electric car manufacturer, offered $1 million for the few hundred remaining vehicles. Ford agreed to halt the crusher, but no final decision has been announced. If you'd like to tell Ford your opinion, go to http://www.jumpstartford.com/home/
Novella is slapping her forehead for not profiling the Think in her column. Email her at [e-mail missing]
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