€ 10 million will be invested in Bulgaria by the Chinese electric car maker Cenntro Automotive Corporation and Luxembourg-based SEVIC eMobility, SEVIC Director of Business Development Emil Yankov told SeeNews. The companies will build a plant for the production of electric cars in Trakia Economic Zone near Plovdiv. It is planned to employ between 250 and 300 employees to work there. The investment will take place within three years. In Bulgaria, 60% of the parts for a small vehicle will be produced. The assembling will also be done here. In July, Peter Wang, CEO of Cenntro Automotive Corporation, said the companies are planning to turn Bulgaria's plant into a regional hub. Vehicles will not be cars for the general public but specialized for different B2B needs. Companies are already negotiating with Domino's and Ikea worldwide for delivery.

"The vehicle will be offered with different options - for transporting chilled goods, collecting rubbish, cleaning the streets," Yankov says. The engine will be 10 kW and the vehicle itself will be 1.9 meters in height, 3.7 meters long and 1.4 meters wide. It can carry up to 500 kg, and the battery will offer up to 130 kilometers of single-mileage. Depending on the type of battery - lead-zinc or lithium-ion - the price will be € 15,000 or € 18,000. "We are currently assembling it in partnership with a local company, and after three years we will be able to make a product that is entirely ours and to create different components together with Bulgarian companies, "says Yankov. And adds that SEVIC eMobility's goal is to generate added value through the production of an electric car. China's e-commerce giant Alibaba is among Cenntro's investors and this year it will receive about 20,000 of electric vehicles.