The strange story about how Google got involved in the development of a Scandinavian electric car.

Some of our readers will know that Pandia is a Norwegian enterprise, and as citizens of a very small nation we are mighty proud of the fact that we have a car industry. This is — of course — all about beating our neighbors, the Swedes, and their Volvos and Saabs.

The Norwegian car is called Think and you have probably never heard about it. Google has, however, and here is the story:

A child of the oil crisis

During the oil crisis of 1973-74 a Norwegian called Lars Ringdal came up with the idea of making a new electric car based on light weigh thermoplastic materials.

In 1980 his son Jan Otto Ringdal believed that new and greener trends would make this adventure possible. He founded the company PIVCO in 1990, got Norwegian and European public support, and presented a new prototype during the 1994 Olympics at Lillehammer.

Ford takes over

In 1996 Lotus got involved, and in 1998 the first edition of the Th!nk car was presented at the international exhibition for electric cars in Brussels. The company went bankrupt the same month, and was bought by Ford the year after.

Alas, the Ford adventure was not a success either. Ford decided that the Californian regulations for emissions did not become as strict as they had feared. Besides, hybrids seemed to be the technology of the future. Ford sold the company in 2002 to a Swiss enterprise, and that seemed to be the end of it all.

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