Ford Th!nk Bikes

E

ermilnanner

New Member
Good Morning All!
Just joined your great forum, looking forward to the interesting perspectives and wisdom I can glean from you all....
I just acquired two Think bikes - one Ford Motorsport edition and one Jaguar Racing edition.....anybody have some background info on these? The internet is not containing much info about these bikes in general, and nothing I could find in relation to these two special editions.....
To prove to you all how sick I am - I have a new Biktrix Ultra FS, my wife has a cruiser e-bike (can't remember brand), I have a 1996 EV Warrior (running/riding), and a 24volt (I know) EVG ebike basket case.....sigh
 
The Ford Th!nk programs 1991-2011, were sadly too early to be commercially viable. The Th!nk bikes were maybe circa 2000. The Th!nk NEV, I believe 2002-2007. Very minimalist and future-forward aesthetic with some front end water-proofing issues. They are somewhat collector in the NEV sector where they are now considered "antiques".

2002-Ford-Think-Neighborhood-Electric-Vehicle-NEV-Golf.jpg
 
goldconch said:
The Ford Th!nk programs 1991-2011, were sadly too early to be commercially viable. The Th!nk bikes were maybe circa 2000. The Th!nk NEV, I believe 2002-2007. Very minimalist and future-forward aesthetic with some front end water-proofing issues. They are somewhat collector in the NEV sector where they are now considered "antiques".

View attachment 66404
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Had one at our business for years. Very nice little EV with crash safety features and street legal to 35mph. Still very popular with enthusiasts, some are even offering 'hot rodding' services (no real rods involved of course)!
 
ermilnanner said:
Good Morning All!
Just joined your great forum, looking forward to the interesting perspectives and wisdom I can glean from you all....
I just acquired two Think bikes - one Ford Motorsport edition and one Jaguar Racing edition.....anybody have some background info on these? The internet is not containing much info about these bikes in general, and nothing I could find in relation to these two special editions.....
To prove to you all how sick I am - I have a new Biktrix Ultra FS, my wife has a cruiser e-bike (can't remember brand), I have a 1996 EV Warrior (running/riding), and a 24volt (I know) EVG ebike basket case.....sigh
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum!

I worked on a couple of the Ford Think ebikes maybe 7 years ago when I was volunteering at the local Bicycle Kitchen. A Ford exec had recently retired to our area and donated them. Apparently they were developed for the Asian market but the price point (>$1,000 some years ago) didn't match the market so it failed as a commercial product.

These 2 ebikes had stamped steel frames for high volume production, throttle controlled hub motor and SLA batteries wired in series to get 24V. The batteries were internal to the frame. As I recall the controller was integrated into the motor. The batteries were dead but after a general tune up, new brake pads and replacement lithium batteries they were ready to go. The batteries were from Ping Battery. At the time they said they were providing a number of lithium packs for the Think ebikes. They even offered an 'off menu' 24V pack mechanically configured to fit in the Think's battery compartment.

Apparently the controller partially relied on the higher internal resistance of the SLA batteries to help limit motor current. The very low internal resistance of the new lithium batteries made these bikes go like bats out of you know where. I put an inline watt meter on one of them. The motor would pull 900W in a 24V system, almost 38A! I was initially concerned about overheating, but it never happened. These little bikes were built like tanks, more or less...🤣

The Kitchen sold them for a fund raiser. I talked with one of the owners a couple of years ago. He was still navigating our very hilly little town on his refurbished Think ebike.

There is at least one more thread here that discusses the Think ebikes. I didn't find it in a quick search, but it'll probably pop up for someone with a little more patience...😎
 
My think bikes are a bit different than the on you had. Mine are mid-drive with throttle and (somewhat) pedal assist. On both bikes the pedal assist is somewhat hit or miss, at least compared to my modern ebikes. They provide assist, but only for a few seconds, then they stop assisting, If I had one that did that I would say it is broken, but both do the identical thing so I'm guessing they were designed that way? Any guidance would be helpful.
 
Sorry, not familiar with that version of the THINK ebikes.
 
Welcome to EBR!

Interesting design... the lesson here is that car companies should focus on building cars. ;)

www.electricbike.com

Lee Iacocca and the EV Global electric bike

Lee Iacocca recently passed away, and even though he is more well-known for other things, he was also a pioneer when it came to ebikes. So let’s take a look at the EV Global ebike, and the ma…
www.electricbike.com
 
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Very streamlined design... also love the Jaguar EBike paint in proper BRG! ;)

Take a look at the Electric Bike Graveyard for a brief history of the first EBikes.

www.electricbike.com

Electric Bike Graveyard

The electric bike graveyard stands as a warning to all entrepreneurs who think that the electric bike market is a lucrative easy business. So far there has been lots of investment money, and lots o…
www.electricbike.com
 
Is someone still selling Ford ebikes ? Or did you find those on ebay ? GM abandoned their Ariv (sp) (pronounced: Areeve) not long after they announced it. (totally no surprise here... https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21256722/gm-ariv-shuts-down-ebike-production-covid)

Clearly zero commitment, and essentially a PR stunt by GM. Probably same thing with ford. Jeep did their PR stunt using Quiet Cat, so zero investment,and 'lending' QuietCat their name. (Likely charged them a stiff licensing fee, given they are selling a barely $2500 value ebike for over $5000).

Auto companies have zero business getting into ebikes, as they can barely stay profitable selling ICE cars, let alone EV's, and thus have zero good reason to even mess around with ebikes on the periphery. The only category 'profitable' for them is LOADED up Pick ups and SUV's. Go figure.

They'd need to sell a gazillion ebikes to make a go it of it with their astoundingly absurd overhead, and legacy union costs, and they are not structurally set up to even consider 'selling' ebikes among their wares. (can you see ANY of their dealers wanting to sell ebikes ???? They'd likely rather slit their own wrists, than mess around with a $2000 item, that is less than most car options or accessories. )

GM has been doinking around with EV's like forever, and pretended to get 'serious back in the early 90's.' (aka EV1).

Tesla has blown these clowns out of the water, so instead of coming out with REAL EV's, the so called "Big 3" (aka "American based" car companies), get all cutesy, and try to profer ebikes ?1? Gimme a freaking break. Who are they kidding ???

they might want to Try learning how to build and sell EV's that are as attractive as Tesla's , then MAYBE we could all take them seriously on something other than cars. Until then you ("Big 3") are wasting a lot of consumer's time.
 
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