Erdogan unveiled Turkey’s first national electric car

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled prototypes of homemade electric car.

Turkey aims to produce up to 175,000 a year of the electric car in a project.

It expects to cost $3.7 billion over 13 years.

Erdogan fulfills a long-held dream of building Turkey’s first national automobile.

Erdogan showcased the SUV and sedan models of the car, which is known now as TOGG after a consortium of Turkish companies that will produce them, at a ceremony in Gebze.

The president scheduled to test drive a car across a suspension bridge over the Gulf of Izmit.

He offered to put his name down on a possible list for advance orders.

However, the Turkish vehicles expected to hit the market in 2022.

Erdogan at the unveiling ceremony, said that Turkey aimed not only to sell the car domestically but also wanted it to become a global brand.

“We’re all together witnessing Turkey’s 60-year-old dream become reality,” he said.

Erdogan referred to the failed plans in the past to build a fully home-produced car.

“When we see this car on roads around the whole world, we will have reached our goal”, said Erdogan.

Erdogan said the charging infrastructure for electric cars would be ready nationwide by 2022.

Turkey is already a big exporter to Europe of cars made domestically by firms such as Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Renault, Toyota and Hyundai.

The new project, launched in October, will receive state support such as tax breaks, and establish a production facility in the automotive hub of Bursa in northwest Turkey.

Five models of the car will produce, government had guaranteed to buy 30,000 of the vehicles by 2035.

Erdogan first revealed plans in November 2017 here to launch a car made entirely in Turkey by 2021.