German EV manufacturer e.Go slips into insolvency – again

In a separate announcement, e.Go wrote that it had filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings with the Aachen district court in Germany. Dr Claus-Peter Kruth from the AndresPartner law firm has been appointed provisional insolvency administrator. e.Go describes him as a “restructuring expert,” but it has not yet been decided whether the company will be restructured.

“Over the next few weeks, Dr Claus-Peter Kruth will gain an overview of the economic situation on site in Aachen and enter into discussions with all key stakeholders. On this basis, he will examine all the reorganisation options available to him,” e.Go states in its German press release. On Friday, the company’s approximately 320 employees were informed of the situation and the next steps.

e.Go states that going into insolvency became unavoidable “amidst a backdrop of recent adverse developments and challenges in the EV industry, volatility in the capital markets.” Given the unfavourable market environment, the equity-based financing instruments secured by the company could not be deployed to the extent and at the speed expected.

“We intend to continue the ongoing investor discussions and negotiations to find solutions for the company’s continued existence. Given the highly innovative product and production concept, I am optimistic we could succeed,” says Kruth. He does not mention whether production will continue.

The company has been experiencing difficulties for some time. According to the German publication Aachener Zeitung, e.Go reduced working hours for staff at the beginning of March. Moreover, the US stock market price is said to have collapsed within six months of the company’s stock market debut in autumn 2022. In addition, e.Go announced in a mandatory report for the US stock exchange that the Dutch parent company Next.e.GO N.V. and other subsidiaries are also expected to become insolvent.

One of the complex problems is delays in the EU model approval of the e.wave X – the successor to the first e.Go Life. Pre-sales, including configurator activation, started in October 2022, but the model is still not on the market. The manufacturer allegedly received 11,000 pre-orders for the small electric car. It only sold 1,350 units of its predecessor, the e.GO Life.

Three and a half years ago – in July 2020 – the Aachen district court opened insolvency proceedings for e.Go for the first time. At that time, the proceedings were self-administered – and primarily as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The rescue came in the form of Investor ND Industrial B.V. The Dutch company took over the entire business of e.GO Mobile AG, including all subsidiaries and 400 employees at the time, on 1 September 2020. Since then, the company has been operating under the name Next.e.GO Mobile SE.

RWTH professor and e.GO founder Günther Schuh relinquished operational responsibility as part of the change of ownership and left the company entirely in 2021. e.Go was founded on his initiative in 2015. The main objective was commercialising a small electric car, but with ZF, the Aachen-based company also initially developed an autonomous “people mover.”

Investor ND Industrial is considered an international private equity company and is part of the holding and investment company ND Group. The company invests in the infrastructure services, energy, logistics, real estate and financial services sectors, among others.

Update 29 May 2024

Almost three months after filing for insolvency for a second time, the German electric car manufacturer e.Go has to call it quits. According to the insolvency administrator, business operations will be discontinued and the company is to be liquidated.

The liquidation was unavoidable “because, despite intensive efforts, no buyer could be found to take over the financing until the new e.wave X model was ready for production,” the insolvency administrator explained in a letter to German media. When the company filed for insolvency in March, 320 employees were still working for e.GO. Some have since left the company. The remaining 200 employees will be made redundant “in the near future.”

e-go-mobile.com (press release in English), e-go-mobile.com (press release in German) wdr.de, heise.de (both in German), kfz-betrieb.vogel.de (update, in German)