German electric car startup Next E.Go Mobile to build plant in Bulgaria

German electric car start-up Next e.Go Mobile will invest 140 million euros ($166 million) in a car production plant in Bulgaria, the country's economy minister Kiril Petkov said on Saturday.

Next e.Go Mobile plans to start producing electric cars in the northern city of Lovech in two years' time and to employ about 1,000 people, Petkov told reporters after signing a memorandum for the new investment with the company.

The start-up has positioned itself at the lower end of the electric vehicles market, producing small budget cars that would be affordable for the wider population. It plans to produce its E.Go Life and E.Go Life Cross models in Bulgaria.

"We want to make sure that people have affordable, clean and sustainable mobility," Ali Vezvaei, chairman of the management board at Next e.GO, told reporters.

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, has established itself as a hub for car part producers. Petkov said the government would provide a total of 34 million euros in support to Next e.Go Mobile in three tranches.

The first tranche will be paid when the company starts producing its electric cars and the final one when its sales reach 20,000 cars per year, he said.