site.btaRuse-based Car Manufacturer Aims to Produce Three Electric Vehicles Daily

SIN Cars, a Ruse-based car manufacturer, aims to produce two or three electric vehicles a day in 2023, the CEO of the company, Rosen Daskalov, told BTA. The company produces urban electric vehicles.

On Thursday, SIN Cars officially opened its facility in Ruse.

Production has started with five electric cars already built, Daskalov said, adding that, firstly, his company will produce 10 to 20 cars this year to improve production processes. Then, in 2023, their goal is to produce one car per shift, meaning that they can build up to three cars a day, depending on how many shifts they work.

These [the vehicles] are small trucks that have a very cute design. There is interest both from Western Europe and Bulgaria. Unfortunately, [in Bulgaria] there is no incentive to buy electric cars. In Romania, if you buy an electric car and return your old one, they will give you a bonus of EUR 9,000", Daskalov said.

In addition to electric vehicles, the company also produces many of the parts for its electric vehicles - chassis, car suspension systems, batteries and various other components.

"The idea is for the facility in Ruse to be like a miniature factory. Then, it will be copied to a new location in the Romanian city of Giurgiu. According to Daskalov, the reason he chose to develop his business across the Danube in Romania, is that Romania offers better conditions for developing such projects.

"For eight months we had talks and went around looking for a site in Ruse and nearby municipalities. The legal framework in Bulgaria does not allow any administration to curry favour with the investor. We don't want to buy the land, we want to have rights to use it, to lease it, but the maximum lease period in Bulgaria is 10 years. What are we going to do with our already built plant when this period expires. We were at an impasse. We met with the Mayor of Giurgiu and he told me that there is a law in Romania which allows you to lease land for 49 years with an option of extending the lease for another 24 years. Moreover, you can buy that land at market price at any time," Daskalov told BTA.

That is how SIN Cars found 70 ha of land to lease in Romania for EUR 1,000 a month. Daskalov calculated that 70 ha in Bulgaria would cost the company 35 times that. In his words, the Giurgiu-based plant will be built in 2025.

He is also considering building a racetrack in Romania. His plan is to use it both as test track for the manufactured electric vehicles and racetrack for high-speed enthusiasts.

Daskalov is famous for creating the first Bulgarian racing sports car - SIN R1.