Aachen, Germany-based Next.e.GO Mobile, a battery-electric car manufacturer, announced that it has entered into an agreement in Bulgaria to build its second new micro-factory in Lovech.
The development follows the company’s Series B funding of €30M in February this year. The funds were for starting production of its four-seater passenger car, e.GO Life in its German factory and supporting the company’s growth agenda.
Factory for battery electric vehicle
The agreement was signed in a public ceremony at the Ministry of Economy of Bulgaria, under the leadership of Minister Kiril Petkov. Under the agreement, Next.e.GO Mobile Bulgaria AD will build a micro-factory in Lovech that will hold a capacity of up to 30,000 vehicles per year. The start of production is scheduled for Q1, 2024.
With this development, the factory expects to create nearly 1,000 new jobs in the region. And according to the company, the new facility will be a cyber-physical twin of the original Industry 4.0 factory in Aachen, Germany – leveraging the Internet of Production architecture and advanced automation.
Speaking on the development, Ali Vezvaei, Chairman of the Board of Next e.GO Mobile, says “This strategic agreement is another key milestone in Next.e.GO Mobile’s decentralised growth, leveraging our game-changing micro factory and product architecture in transforming the global urban mobility.”
Vezvaei further adds, “Our technology, the unique production and the entire ecosystem that we create set us apart and expand our ecological and economic contribution far beyond our factories into countries and local communities. We are very pleased to expand our footprint into Bulgaria – a country with amazing human capital, competitive terrain, and well-developed tech and industrial clusters.”
The company has also reported that it is accelerating the transition to zero-emission urban mobility by producing sustainable and purpose-built urban BEVs (Battery-Powered Electric Vehicle). It is designed to combine affordability with durability, at ultra-low total cost of ownership with better lifecycle sustainability.
e.GO Mobile recent developments
The company was founded in 2015 by Prof. Dr. Gunther Schuh. The goal was to develop long-lasting electric vehicles and to mass-produce them.
The company says, “We have been mass-producing the e.GO Life, a four-seater passenger car, in our factory in the Aachen Rothe Erde industrial park since 2018. And in the coming years, not only the e.GO Life, but also the e.GO Life Sport and the e.GO Life Cross will be manufactured there.”
The company currently has a team of nearly 400 employees. And besides the running factory in Germany and the planned facility in Bulgaria, the company had announced earlier the intention to replicate its cyber-physical micro factories in Greece and Mexico.
The e.GO Life Next model is already available and being sold in Germany. And by next year, in 2022, the company plans to introduce the next generation of the e.GO Life model and its derivatives including e.GO Life Cross.
