Turkey lays foundation for its first homemade car production facility
Last year, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled the country’s first fully homemade electric car. Now, he has also laid the foundation for Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group TOGG’s first electric vehicle plant in Gemlik, near capital Istanbul.
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The facility will begin producing TOGG’s electric vehicles after the construction ends next year. The company had said it would begin production in 2022 with compact SUVs. Taking to Twitter, the company said that the factory will produce five fully electric vehicles with the help of around 4,000 workers. It also plans an annual production capacity of 175,000 units.
The project has been a long-time goal of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling AK Party as a demonstration of the country's growing economic power. An electric SUV model and a concept sedan were showcased during the company’s arrival late last year.
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The carmaker has already submitted its design registration applications in five countries, including India. According to reports, the applications are likely to be finalised by the end of this year.
The sports utility vehicle model called the C-SUV is likely to come with 2 battery packs that provide between 300 kms and 500 kms of range and will allow the users to configure their cars by choosing the most suitable range based on their needs. It promises 80% recharge in less than 30 minutes and an 8-year warranty on batteries.
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The company claims the C-SUV will be able to sprint from zero to 100kmph in 7.6 seconds with its 200 horsepower RWD option and only in 4.8 seconds with 400 horsepower AWD option.
Turkey is currently working on to build up its charging infrastructure. Erdogan said the charging infrastructure for electric cars would be ready nationwide by 2022.
The consortium, called Turkey's Automobile Initiative Group (TOGG), was established in mid 2018 by five industrial groups: Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, mobile phone operator Turkcell and Zorlu Holding, the parent of TV maker Vestel. TOGG's CEO is former Bosch executive Gurcan Karakas and its chief operating officer is Sergio Rocha, former General Motors Korea chief executive.
