2 September 2002: Ford is to drop its Think electric vehicle division and concentrate instead on developing fuel cell and hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles to meet environmental regulations for cars and trucks. The decision is due to poor customer demand and lack of government support for the environmentally friendly cars.

Ford bought the Norway-based Think in 1999 for $23 million and invested $100 million in electric vehicle battery technology since then. They had hoped to make 5,000 cars a year, but production since than has has only totaled a little below 1,050 cars.

Ford will try to sell Think, or work with the Norwegian government to transform the company to create a viable business.

The Think City, a two-seater, plastic-bodied hatchback, has a range of about 53 miles in city driving and requires up to six hours for a recharge.

General Motors, the world's largest automaker, spent over $1 billion to develop the GM EV1 electric vehicle in the 1990s. But the EV1 also suffered from a limited range of less than 100 miles before it needed hours of recharging time, and GM stopped building the EV1 a few years ago.

Ford plans to sell its first hybrid, a version of the Ford Escape small sport utility vehicle, next year.