Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s governor took a test drive in Nissan’s prototype electric car Monday.

He’s scheduled to try another electric car Tuesday – the "Th!nk" from Norway.

And then on Thursday, yet another company is expected to announce Oregon as a test market for its zero-emission vehicle.

As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, Oregon is enjoying a buzz in the electric car business, but questions still swirl around which projects will come to fruition and which won’t.

In a large parking lot on the banks of the Willamette River, Nissan laid out a course of traffic cones and asked people if they wanted a test drive. Engineer Lance Atkins agreed to show this reporter the ropes.

Lance Atkins: “The green ready light tells you it’s idling ready to go, even though there’s no noise. So I just step on the brake there so you can pull it out of park and in drive. ”

Kristian: "Alright it’s starting to move. There’s no starting of the engine. It’s pokey. Have you dialed it down so I don’t get pinned to the seat or something like that?"

Lance Atkins: “No, it’s full performance power train.  We go to a lot of trouble so it drives like a regular car that people are accustomed to so they’ll be comfortable in driving this vehicle.”

It is smooth and handles about the same as a regular car.  But I’m not a gear head.

Jim Piro is the president of Portland General Electric, which has a memorandum of understanding with  Nissan and Oregon. His company is building a series of charging stations for the vehicle.

Jim Piro: “Very nice car. It responded well. When you push the pedal down, I was going to call it a gas pedal but it’s actually an electric pedal. Very good responsiveness, good cornering. It doesn’t have a gear box so therefore it’s much more responsive. So I was really impressed.”

Electric cars have been around for decades, but they haven’t caught on for several reasons. For example, they tend to be tiny and they don’t go very far before needing a recharge. 

Electric cars are also difficult to market -- mainly because of the batteries. Who will own them? The car buyer, or will they be leased from the company?

Nissan spokesman, Mark Perry, says the company hasn’t decided about the batteries yet. But, he promises, the car will be for sale by the end of next year and cost about $25,000 to $35,000.  He says it’ll also seat five people and go about 100 miles without needing another charge.

But, he concedes, it probably won’t be available to individuals straight away

Mark Perry: “Really it’s just a process question. I mean what’s the permitting, the inspection process to get a charging station put in your garage. We can’t have that experience be six weeks. We have to have it to be six days or less.”

Perry says big companies like Nike and PGE will be the first to get the cars – for their fleets. That's mainly because they can more easily install the necessary wiring.

But he says everyone is going to get a chance to buy this car.

Mark Perry: “What we’re shooting for is a mass market introduction. This is a real launch, not a test and demonstration fleet but a real launch.”

Meanwhile, Norwegian electric car manufacturer ‘Th!nk’ has invited the governor to drive one of its cars Tuesday. It’s also scheduled an announcement.

Coincidentally I have  a cousin in Norway, Hans Erik Torp, who has  driven a Th!nk for years .

Hans Erik Torp: “It is really like a good quality car like any other car. It’s tight and doesn’t rattle and it’s with these new batteries so it can run 200 km on one charge.”

That’s about 125 miles.

My cousin also happens to supply parts to ‘Th!nk’ via his company ‘Torp Fastners.’

But he has a warning about the company, at least from a Norwegian perspective. He says ‘Th!nk’ is in serious financial trouble. It needs about $17 million to move forward with its plan

Hans Erik Torp: “So as we speak the company is under protection just like GM in the United States. They have one foot in the bankruptcy court.”

Just how serious are ‘Th!nk’s problems?

Norway recently passed an economic stimulus package and ‘Th!nk’ was not a beneficiary.

Still, the company has bounced back from financial ruin before and all ears will be tuned to their announcement Tuesday.

Think has been looking at eight states as possible homes for a new factory.

Because he's a supplier to Th!nk, Torp says he is privy to interior memos and he believes Oregon stands a good chance.

Hans Erik Torp: “From what I’ve heard is that Oregon is like a pioneer state in the United States in terms of environmental interest and things like that.”

Meanwhile, a third electric car announcement has been scheduled for later this week.