The 60-year-old dream of Turkey is coming true
The Turkish Electric Car TOGG

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled a prototype of Turkey’s first domestically electric car on Friday in Gebze, a district near Istanbul.

“Today we share with you, the 60 years long-held dream of manufacturing a national car as we promised 2 years ago.”

Two domestic electric car prototypes were unveiled with production expected to begin in 2022.  The government-supported venture is set to cost more than €3 billion, with plans to produce five models in 15 years.

A planned factory in Bursa, Turkey’s fourth-largest city, south of Istanbul, is expected to produce up to 175,000 SUV and sedan units per year by 2022, just a year before national elections and the hundredth anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

“Turkey has become a country which is not only a market for new technologies but also a country which develops, produces and exports them to the world.”

He later posted a video on Twitter of him test-driving one of the cars, saying he would reserve one for himself.