Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Serial production of the national TOGG electric car began on Saturday in Turkiye on a public holiday - Republic Day. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in the ceremony of leaving the assembly line of the first Turkish electric car. The broadcast was conducted by TRT 1.

“Turkiye is one of the leading exporters of vehicles. The TOGG project is a confirmation of the realization of our common dream of creating a strong future for Turkiye. This is the pride of a country with a population of 85 million,” Erdogan said, noting that the capacities of the enterprise in Bursa are designed to produce 170,000 electric cars a year. According to the President of Turkiye, the first TOGG electric vehicles will appear in Turkiye before the end of the first quarter of 2023 after the relevant certification. In February, the price of electric cars will become known, he added.

Electric vehicles in five models and six colors, symbolizing different regions of Turkiye, will be produced in Bursa province (Gemlik region) in the west of the country.

The TOGG electric car was introduced in 2019. Serial testing of the crossover prototype of the most popular SUV segment took place in November 2021, it accelerated to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. According to the manufacturers, charging an electric car by 80% will take 30 minutes, the range will be 500 km.

TOGG General Director Gyurcan Karakash told reporters that it is planned to produce about 100,000 electric cars a year, while the production capacity can bring this figure to 175,000 units. By 2030, plans to assemble about a million cars. The price for them, according to the forecasts of the automobile plant, will vary from US$43,000 to US$54,000, but the company’s representatives did not name a specific price before the start of sales, citing international practice.

Official sales of TOGG in Turkiye will begin in March 2023 and will be focused on the domestic market for 1.5 years. Then it is planned to export the machines to European countries, in particular to Germany and France.

The governors of 81 provinces of Turkiye, as well as the heads of Turkish diplomatic missions abroad, will be the first to receive electric cars, Fatih Kacir, deputy head of the Ministry of Transport, told reporters. He also said that by April next year, more than 2,000 stations for refueling electric vehicles will be created in Turkiye.

The developer of the electric car is the TOGG consortium, which includes BMC, Anadolu Group, Kok Group, Zorlu Holding and the telecommunications operator Turkcell.