Calif. firm hopes to kickstart U.S. electric car era

By Anupreeta Das

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - One of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capital firms unveiled plans on Monday to put as many as 50,000 electric cars on American roads beginning late next year.

The announcement of a new joint venture by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which has in the past backed Internet companies such as Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc, could make the famed tech region south of San Francisco a mecca for plug-in cars as well.

To be based in Menlo Park, California, Think North America will bring together Kleiner with clean technology-focused venture capital firm RockPort Capital Management and Think Global, a Norwegian electric car maker.

"In a couple of years, we hope to be selling 30, 40, 50,000 cars per year," said Ray Lane, a Kleiner managing partner and chairman of Think North America.

The joint venture's first product will be Think City, an emission-free, 95 percent recyclable car with a maximum speed of 65 miles an hour. Plans call for a U.S. launch next year.

Lane said he expects the Think City, which will be priced under $25,000, to compete with Toyota Motor Corp's popular Prius hybrid.

Think City would be a low-end rival to Tesla Motors' high-profile Roadster, the all-electric luxury sports car also made in Silicon Valley that began regular production last month after several delays. More than 1,000 customers have ordered the $100,000 Roadsters, according to the company.

Tesla has said it plans to gradually ramp up production, making more than 100 Roadsters a month by early next year.