I wrote a diary entry on this car maker last month when they visited Oregon and the governor there expressed his desire to have Oregon be the location for the first Think plant in the US. They just signed another agreement with Spain for another 550 cars, making the total number of cars ordered 2000. The problem though is that they're under Norway's equivalent of chapter 11, and have no capital.
What is unclear though (to me at least) is how Think will be able to get out of this. The article says that they are hoping for some help from the Norwegian government, and that they have also applied for a loan from the Obama administration which they will use to start manufacturing in the US, but apparently the company doesn't qualify for a loan as long as they technically have no capital, as is the case now. So I need a bit of Daily Kos expertise on this. Is the solution to first get support from Norway, then get a loan from the US once it counts as a company with capital? Is there any way to drum up more support in the US from private investors for the company? Etc. etc.
In short, how does Think get out of its current rut? I really love this car. Under $20,000, top speed of 105 kph / 65 mph (a tad low but I drove a car in Japan for a year that never went over 90 kph / 55 mph anyway), range of 210 km (130 miles) on a single charge. And most of all, it doesn't look ridiculous like some electric cars do. It just looks like a regular car.