Turkish electric car travels 2,500 kilometers for only $17

KAYSERİ – Anadolu Agency

The cut-price odyssey began on Sept. 15. AA Photo

A Turkish-made electric car has traveled across 2,500 kilometers to six cities for just 37.5 Turkish Liras ($17), in a journey that began on Sept. 15.

The car named “T-1” has been developed by academics and students from Istanbul University and is capable of travelling 500 kilometers on only four hours’ charge.

After traveling through the Turkish provinces of Ankara, Samsun, Trabzon, Erzurum, Diyarbakır and Gaziantep, the car was driven through the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s main thoroughfare in front of curious onlookers to go on display as part of a nationwide tour on Sept. 22.

The car weighs 500 kilograms and can reach speeds of up to 130 kph, said Engin Topaloğlu, one of the Istanbul University Electrical and Electronic Engineering undergraduate students who took part in the project.

The project participated in a competition run by Turkey’s scientific and technological center, TÜBİTAK, and came in first place.

Production was not an easy task, as it lasted 18 months and cost 450,000 liras ($202,000), according to Topaloğlu.

However, the comparison of the cost of a regular car that runs on fuel and the electric car developed by the students once again made clear the efficiency and economy of the latter. While a regular car needs 200 liras to travel 500 kilometers, the electric car only consumes 7.5-lira’s worth of electricity.

“We will finish our tour of Turkey and return to Istanbul after traveling to five more cities,” he said.

After the tour, enhancements will be made to the vehicle and a later version of the model will be developed, he added.