By Nick Carey
LONDON (Reuters) - German electric vehicle maker Next.e.GO Mobile plans to build three new Europe and U.S. microfactories over the next couple of years as it expands production of its low-cost, small urban EVs, its top executive said ahead of the company's listing on Friday.
The company already has one plant in Germany and CEO Ali Vezvaei said that aside from a planned factory in North Macedonia - due to start production in 2024 - e.GO is looking to build another plant in Europe and a U.S. factory to take advantage of subsidies provided by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
Aachen-based e.GO's microfactories cost around $60 million to build, are highly automated and can make around 30,000 EVs annually, Vezvaei said.
The company is going public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Athena Consumer Acquisition, which will value the EV maker at around $900 million, plus raise $235 million in cash and $50 million in debt financing.
The company will trade on Nasdaq under ticker symbol EGOX.
The EV maker currently makes the e.Wave X, a small four-seater EV for 24,990 euros ($26,457) at its plant in Aachen. It has made around 1,200 so far and the SPAC merger will provide working capital to expand production. Vezvaei would not discuss specific order numbers for the EV, but said they numbered "thousands and thousands."
He said e.GO has targeted that low-cost segment because major carmakers have largely pursued Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s lead in targeting the premium and luxury markets.
"There is no need for us to try to test the water there," Vezvaei said. "If you look at the urban segment we serve, it's underserved."
The company's listing comes a few years after a major wave of SPAC mergers where EV startups raised billions of dollars. Many have struggled to actually make EVs at scale and funding has dried up.
Athena Chair Isabelle Freidheim said e.GO is different because it is already generating revenue.
"This is not yet just another EV company, but a company that actually makes cars," she said. "So this is very attractive from an investor's point of view."
($1 = 0.9446 euros)