motor

The 30.6 million electric vehicles sold in 2011 will rise to 51.3 million in 2021 but the value of the market will grow by far more because larger and more expensive vehicles are now rapidly adopting the technology. Motorcycles, military vehicles, buses and earthmovers are among them. Hybrids will rise from about 50% to about 60% of the value market through the decade. In ten years from now, a far higher percentage of the global output of light industrial vehicles, commercial vehicles and cars will be electric vehicles.

Some 66% of the manufacturers operating in the electric vehicle market in the world are in China. Over 90% of the world's electric vehicles are made in China, mainly for use in China. It has the largest potential electric vehicle market. It mines and controls 95% of the world's rare earth reserves used in the hybrid car batteries, motors and other key components of today's electric vehicles. Of the 420 electric vehicle manufacturers covered in this report, an appropriately high proportion are Chinese. This is particularly true of the chapters on Heavy Industrial, Light Industrial and Commercial, Mobility for the Disabled, Two Wheelers, Golf Cars and Cars, where the Chinese heavily participate.

The new report gives the detail, forecasting, unit value and total electric vehicle market value for each sector with many tables giving subsets of the data and a large number of profiles of current and planned activities of the participants. Detailed forecasts for these vehicle categories by numbers and value and the key components are provided for 2011-2021. The trends, technology and planned vehicles are clarified in 146 figures and 52 tables including historical context.

| Companies & Market

THINK Global AS, a leading manufacturer of pure electric cars, has been purchased by a prominent international technology entrepreneur who is committed to maintaining the company�s key role in global transportation electrification.

A court-appointed trustee selected Mr. Boris G. Zingarevich, whose investment operations are based in St. Petersburg, Russia, as the winning bidder following a bankruptcy proceeding initiated by the Norwegian carmaker last month.

In addition, Mr. Zingarevich has signed a memorandum of understanding with American advanced lithium-ion battery maker Ener1, Inc. and Finnish automobile engineering and manufacturing concern Valmet Automotive, Inc. to cooperate in relaunching THINK.


�Having achieved the position of one of the world�s most highly regarded electric vehicle products, the THINK brand is a valuable asset that deserves to continue its key role in the global shift to electrification,� said Mr. Zingarevich. �With the potential of working with the leading American automotive lithium-ion battery maker and Europe�s top automobile engineering and manufacturing company, I believe we could have exactly the right combination and value chain to ensure that the brand will be increasingly competitive in the worldwide electric vehicle market.�

The assets of wholly owned subsidiaries THINK North America and THINK UK, which have remained going concerns during the bankruptcy proceeding for THINK Global, were also acquired in the transaction. Financial advisory services were provided by LATUM, a specialised investment banking and services company.
Ener1 and Valmet were the senior secured creditors of THINK when the company filed for bankruptcy after failing to raise adequate capital to continue financing operations. Ener1 and Valmet are negotiating stakes in the new company on the basis of a debt restructuring. Mr. Zingarevich has been a major investor in Ener1 since 2002 and provided bridge funding for THINK while the company attempted a reorganisation before filing for bankruptcy.

The name of the new company that will market THINK brand products is Electric Mobility Solutions AS, registered in Norway. A new sales and service structure for THINK will be announced soon. The production restart, with a refined version of the THINK City, is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2012.
Over its 20-year history, THINK achieved the status of the leading dedicated electric vehicle maker in the world. The THINK City has accumulated more than 48 million km of road experience in the several countries where it has been marketed. The current model has a range of 160 km on a single charge and provides one of the most engaging and spirited drives of any car in its class.

| Think

Audi is this year�s overall winner of the second Silvretta Electric Car Rally in Austria�s Montafon region. The 2011 victory of the A1 e-tron follows the R8 e-tron�s win last year. The second Audi in the rally, a
Q5 HFC with a fuel cell finished in sixth place. A total of 32 electric vehicles were evaluated.

After three days, 307 kilometers and a total altitude difference of 11,541 meters, the A1 e-tron bearing the number 206 was named the winner of the second Silvretta Electric Car Rally Montafon. The event took place from July 7-9 as part of the 14th Silvretta Classic. The name Silvretta refers to a group of mountains in the eastern Alps of Austria. The Audi A1 e-tron won against 31 competitors in a rally, that was held on highly taxing mountain roads with inclines up to 15 percent, presenting a special challenge to electric vehicles. The Audi Q5 HFC, which was also entered by Audi, achieved sixth place. This was the best final result of all cars with a fuel cell.



The A1 e-tron contains technology that Audi�s development engineers are using to study the mobility requirements for such a future-oriented concept. The technological basis includes an electric motor with a maximum output of 75 kW that is powered by a lithium-ion battery. The battery features a 12 kWh capacity and can be completely charged in 30 minutes (quick charge), or in less than three hours (standard charge). It offers a range of 50 kilometers. To prevent drivers from being stranded by an empty battery, the A1 e-tron also comes equipped with a combustion engine, which can charge the battery as needed. The one-disc rotary engine (254 cc) is located under the trunk floor; it provides 15 kW of output intended solely to charge the battery, rather than to directly power the wheels.

The A1 e-tron is designed with a local emission-free electric drive system, which is ideally suited for driving in a city.


During the rally the A1 e-tron was driven by Franciscus van Meel, Head of Electromobility Strategy at AUDI AG. Long-time Audi employee Gerhard Gruber took on the important role of co-driver. �Sending an electric car into the Alps is one of the toughest challenges you can present it with. The fact that the A1 e-tron proved so impressive here is especially gratifying to me and it proves we�re on the right track with our electric mobility approach of combining an electric motor with a combustion engine . Many thanks to our dedicated team for making our second overall victory in a row possible,� said van Meel after crossing the finish line.

Van Meel then went on to describe the rally itself: �On the first day we drove cautiously and despite a distance of just over 100 kilometers we finished with a lot of electricity left in the battery. On the second day we were better prepared and we were able to win the day; on day three we came in second, and in the end that was enough to win the overall victory. The car ran flawlessly. We�re now looking forward to the 2012 rally. We already have a few ideas about the kind of concepts we�ll enter with, of course.�




| Audi