Th!nk City: Futile repair

Th!nk City: Futile repair

With the purchase of the purely electrically powered small car Th!nk City in 2010, the Carinthian University of Applied Sciences wants to study the prospects of electromobility in everyday life. After the two-seater, which is equipped with a lithium-ion battery, has been doing its rounds for around 30,000 kilometers, one day it switches to the emergency running program.

Despite the subsequent odyssey through several workshops, it is not possible to get the Th!nk afloat again. The reason: The manufacturer Th!nk Global AS is now insolvent and technical information and spare parts can no longer be found. So the small electric car ends up at the Villach 2 technical vocational school, where it is supposed to be put back on the road again by the girls and boys on the automotive technology course as part of a school project led by specialist teacher Daniel Haid. The aim is to restore its roadworthiness as part of a cost-optimized repair and to prepare certification in accordance with Section 57a. A diagnostic crime thriller begins.

● The initial diagnosis of the somewhat battered car shows: The check engine light is on, the car is only running in the emergency program. Water got in through a dent in the roof at the rear left. The front wishbone rubbers on both sides of the chassis are torn, the brake discs and blocks are very rusty, and the rear brakes are stuck. 
● The deformed plastic roof is unscrewed and worked on with a hot air gun and heat lamp to compensate for the dent - without success. Since a replacement roof cannot be found, the steel struts are screwed back on and the automotive engineering students make a suitable replacement roof out of sheet metal. 
● The attempt to find the cause of the drive fault in the vehicle electronics using a Bosch diagnostic device initially failed due to a lack of suitable diagnostic software. Finally, a laptop with Th!nk diagnostic software installed is found at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, but this doesn't show any errors either.

● A closer examination of the on-board electrical system shows that two fuses are missing. In addition, the fuse box is damp and heavily oxidized. Other defects indicate unsuccessful attempts at repair: A cable in the cable harness is torn, two solder connections are of poor quality, two cables are too long, the CAN bus cables are not twisted.
● To check the battery's communication, the Th!nk is de-energized. The heavy battery is then lifted out using muscle power due to the lack of suitable lifting tools, with ten students helping out at the same time. 
● The broken cable and the cables that are too long are replaced and re-soldered, and the battery is reinstalled - this time with a battery lifter. A test drive is successful, the dashboard and the cleaned fuse box are also reinstalled.
● On the next test drive, the car switches to emergency mode again for no apparent reason and displays a high-voltage error. 
● The dashboard is disassembled again, checked and reassembled, and lo and behold, the Th!nk is running again and the repair of the drive remains successfully successful.
● The superficial body damage is repaired by derusting, sanding and painting. Without suitable spare parts, however, it is not possible to repair the brakes and wishbones, so the goal of getting the Th!nk ready for the pickup inspection becomes a long way off. 
● Conclusion: The diagnostic crime thriller ends with a partial solution; the Th!nk City, which is ready to drive but not approved for public transport, remains in the FBS Villach 2 as an educational piece. 

Did you know that… 

The Th!nk City was the first European-made electric car ready for series production with EU type approval. In 1999, Ford took over the majority of shares in the small Norwegian vehicle manufacturer Pivco Industries, renamed the company Th!nk Nordic AS and developed the Th!nk City. In 2009, Ford exited again and the Norwegian state and the Finnish car manufacturer Valmet took over the company. Full production capacity of up to 12,000 vehicles per year was reached at the Valmet plant in Uusikaupunki, Finland, at the end of 2010. Austrian importer Denzel added the Th!nk City to its portfolio when it was equipped with a lithium-ion battery instead of the original Zebra battery. In 2011, the Norwegian manufacturer slipped into bankruptcy and the company was taken over by Russian investor Boris Zingarevich. It is still unclear whether the company will ever resume production of electric cars.