Tesla considers installing chargers in Turkey

ISTANBUL

A Turkish company has inked a deal with Tesla Motors to consider the installation of SuperCharger stations for electric engine cars, according to a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

“The deal has been signed between our company and Tesla to evaluate a commercial relation in the production and installation of AC/DC electric vehicle charging stations,” read the statement by Gersan, an electric industry company, on Dec. 4.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Nov. 8 to discuss possible cooperation between Tesla, SpaceX and Turkish firms, as well as electric cars, said presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın after the meeting.

The meeting came a few days after Turkey launched a joint venture of five local industrial giants to produce its first domestically-made car on Nov. 2. Kalın said Erdoğan and Musk had discussed electric cars.

The Tesla Supercharger network is a system of 480-volt fast-charging stations built by the electric car company to allow longer journeys for their all-electric manufactured vehicles through quick charging.

Tesla began building the network in 2012 and as of November 2017, there were 1,063 stations globally.