Automotiv Exports July 2022

Electric cars
offer Turkish
motorists
cheaper,
affordable
alternative
Motorists in Turkey are increasingly turning
to electric vehicles as driving a car has
become more costly due to higher gasoline
prices.
Gasoline prices nearly doubled in the past
year in Turkey, which means car owners
need to allocate a larger portion of their
income to commute.
The monthly gasoline cost of a car, which
travels some 500 kilometers on the roads
of the city, is now some 3,660 Turkish Liras
(around $247) on average, whereas an
owner of an electric car pays 756 liras to
cover energy cost of the vehicle.
There are presently around 4,000 charging
stations across Turkey, and 1,500 of them
are privately owned. The demand for
setting up such stations at homes or offices
has been growing in the last months amid
the rising gasoline prices.
The range of an electric car with a 60kWh
battery is around 350 kilometers. It is
calculated that if a car used in city traffic
travels some 2,000 kilometers that means
a monthly power consumption of 400 kWh.
If the car is charged at a station installed at
a house, the cost of the electricity is 1.89
liras/kWh (based on the current electricity
prices), which totals to 756 liras a month.
If a charging station, which is installed
at businesses, is used, the cost increases
slightly to around 1,100 liras since
businesses pay 2.74 liras per kilowatts
hour of electricity.The network of charging
stations operated by private companies
on the intercity highways and in the cities
is also expanding fast. The charging fees
at those stations are two to three times
higher than the stations at houses because
of the costs associated with running such
facilities.
To have a charging station installed at a
detached house costs around 17,000 liras,
while the price of a station that serves up
to four car owners is around 70,000 liras,
according to experts from Zorlu Energy
Solutions (ZES).
The latest automotive sales data reflect
the growing interest in electric vehicles in
Turkey.
In March this year, 638 electric vehicles
were sold in the country, which pointed
to a 267 percent increase from a year ago.
The share of electric cars in total vehicle
sales was still low at 1.3 percent. In the
month, hybrid car sales, however, declined
by 3.4 percent on an annual basis to 6,024
units, accounting for 12 percent of all
vehicle sales.
In 2021, 2,486 electric vehicles were sold
in Turkey, but in January-March alone this
year, 1,073 electric cars were already sold
on the local market, rising 244 percent
from the first quarter of last year.
Hybrid car sales fell by 17 percent to 11,227
units, which made up less than 10 percent
of all automotive sales.
JULY 2022 14