Consumers want European, long-range EVs, shows survey

ISTANBUL

Turkish consumers want to have made-in-Europe, long-range and fast-charging electric vehicles, a survey has shown.

Türkiye’s EV market has been expanding fast, with the number of such vehicles on the country’s roads soaring more than 3,000 percent over the past year from around 33,000 to 131,217.

Some 20 carmakers sell 40 models of EVs in the Turkish market.

According to the survey conducted by sarjagel.com, 45.1 percent of participants said they would prefer European EVs, while Turkish-made vehicles came second in their preference with 26.1 percent. Chinese EVs ranked third with 14.8 percent.

However, Turkish EV maker Togg was the best-selling brand in the January-July. The company delivered 14,248 cars in the first eight months of this year. Tesla’s Model Y ranked second at 3,502.

Ssang Yong sold 2,597 EVs in the Turkish market, while BMW sold 1,617 units of 5 Series and another 1,579 units of X1 models.

The survey also showed that Turkish consumers are largely unaware of the charging station network in the country, including the total number of stations in the country. Most participants (29 percent) estimated the number to be between 4,000 and 5,000. In reality, there were around 12,000 stations as of June, when the survey was conducted.

Approximately 40.1 percent of those surveyed prefer an EV that charges within 15 minutes, while 40.5 percent would like the charging time to be under 30 minutes.

Most of the participants expressed a desire for an EV with an 800-kilometer range, while over 33 percent said they would not make an intercity trip with EVs.

The survey concluded that Turkish consumers lack accurate information about EVs and that concerns about range and the charging infrastructure appear to be the two main factors affecting consumers’ preferences.