A German electric car startup by the name of e.Go Mobile may be the first European automaker to deliver an EV that’s actually affordable.

e.Go Mobile is making waves with its first production car, the Life. The Life is a four-seat battery electric city car that’s available with three different batteries. The base model, the Life 20, has a 14.9 kWh battery pack and a 27 hp electric motor, which can deliver a maximum driving range of 75 miles NEDC, or 121 km. Next is the Life 40, which has a slightly larger 17.9 kWh battery, 54 hp motor and a driving range of 142 km. The range-topping Life 60 has a 23.9 kWh battery, an 80 hp motor and a driving range 184 km.

The Life 20 will start at 15,900 euros in Germany, which is just over $18,000 USD. The Life 40 will start at 17,400 euros, or just under $20,000, while the Life 60 will cost 19,900 euros, or nearly $23,000 USD. It’s not Mistubishi Mirage-like affordability, but we must admit, that’s pretty good value. It would have limited appeal in the United States, where less of the population lives in major metropolitan areas, but this is exactly the kind of car European city dwellers need right now.

The nicely styled and seemingly well-executed Life isn’t the only reason to believe in e.Go Mobile. Its founder, Guenther Schuh, was the man behind the hugely successful StreetScooter. He sold the rights to the electric delivery van to Deutsche Post/DHL, with the Germany delivery giant now producing 20,000 of them a year. StreetScooter also worked with Ford on the larger StreetScooter XL electric truck, which is now used by DHL across Europe. Schuh knows a thing or to about building EVs, then.

e.Go Mobile has also received a cash injection to the tune of 135 million euros, or about $154 million USD, from German automotive supplier ZF to develop an electric minibus, Bloomberg reports. It has also enlisted HSBC to raise more money for it as it looks to expand its lineup to four models.

e.Go has receive 3,200 preorders for the Life so far. Deliveries will begin in April and the company hopes to be producing 100,000 of the cars by 2022. Let’s hope we see them for sale in North America city centers one day, too.

[Source: Bloomberg]