Following a week of intense international grassroots pressure, Ford Motor Co.'s (Dearborn, MI) US fleet of Norwegian-produced Th!nk electric vehicles (EVs) may soon be headed home to fill waiting list orders for the zero-emission cars. The decision marks an abrupt reversal by Ford, which had been ignoring letters of interest from automakers Elbil Norge and Th!nk Nordic and the Norwegian Minister of Transportation.
At the same time, Bill Ford, Jr. wrote a letter to California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger opposing a proposed law that would encourage purchases of the most fuel-efficient passenger cars. US and Norwegian citizen groups expect an action plan from Ford on the Th!nk EVs by September 15, 2004.
In a letter concerning the Th!nk EV controversy to Norwegian Minister of Transportation Torhild Skogsholm, Ford conceded that, "it is very clear to us that there is a high demand for these vehicles in Norway, not in the least because of the high priority and support your government has given to environmentally friendly transport technology." Ingvar Sviggum, a vice president of Ford Europe, confirmed, "It is with pleasure that I am able to inform you that we have, with immediate effect, stopped any further scrapping of these vehicles."
