Mobility in the city e.Go presents new "Life" electric car in Bonn
BONN · NRW Minister Andreas Pinkwart has opened the exhibition room for the electric car e.Go Life in Bonn city centre. The researchers from RWTH Aachen University have already developed the StreetScooter project for DHL.
The new e.GO Life is apparently “as agile as a sports car and as practical as a compact car.” It is also, and this is one of the reasons that attracted Andreas Pinkhart to Bonn on Saturday, affordable. The NRW Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy took part in the opening in the city centre of the “pop-up-store” of the Aachen-based company, which has developed an electric car for the city.
The idea behind the vehicle, which was developed by Günther Schuh and others at RWTH Aachen University, is to make electric cars affordable. This is important “to achieve wide appeal,” said Schuh at the opening. “And we need this quickly in the cities,” above all to fight carbon dioxide, fine dust and nitrogen oxide emissions. The researchers at the RWTH Aachen University had already successfully implemented the StreetScooter Project, from which the idea for e.GO Life stemmed. It has a thermoplastic body from a suitcase manufacturer, which requires no expensive pressing plant and no paint spraying. The producer says all models are therefore less than Euro 20,000. Information about the car is available for the next six months at Fürstenstraße 1, then the business will change location.
“Rhineland Valley” in Aachen
It is also important to Pinkwart that electromobility spreads. This is why the ministry is supporting the start-up project from Aachen, which he calls “Rhineland Valley” in a reference to Silicon Valley. NRW also wants to “become the number one start-up state in Germany” and develop a leading position in electromobility. In general, the aim is to bring together climate protection and modern industry.
Mayor Reinhard Limbach was pleased that Bonn had been chosen as the second location after Aachen for the presentation. “Bonn is the city of sustainability,” he said. The city has long been working on reducing the CO2 emissions and will shortly install 25 further charging stations for electric cars in the city. A good start, but Jean-Pierre Schneider, head of the Bonn Caritas Foundation, wants more. The Caritas has ordered three E.Go Life as a test for its outpatient care service and wants to replace a good proportion of its around 100 cars with these electric vehicles.
Many people crowded into the narrow showroom, including Alwine and Günther Schneider, who had come specially from Heidelberg. They have already ordered an e.Go Life but wanted to see the car. “We think it’s great that a company creates jobs and produces something that’s ecological.”
(Original text: Stefan Knopp. Translation: kc)
