Erdoğan's electric car: Turkey's Togg T10X SUV gears up for Europe

DPA
·2 min read
Turkey is making a comeback as a car nation. Instead of just manufacturing for Ford, Fiat & Co, Togg is now building its own electric cars - and the new Togg T10X SUV is also coming to Western markets, starting with Germany. Togg/dpa
Turkey is making a comeback as a car nation. Instead of just manufacturing for Ford, Fiat & Co, Togg is now building its own electric cars - and the new Togg T10X SUV is also coming to Western markets, starting with Germany. Togg/dpa

The first Turkish car manufacturer since 1970s brand Anadol is stepping onto the international stage and planning to enter the Western European market with the launch of its T10X electric SUV in Germany in the coming months.

Gürcan Karakas, head of the Togg group, announced plans for a launch in Germany, home to a large Turkish-German community, in the third quarter of 2024, but did not name a price. In Turkey, the T10X starts at 1.4 million lira, or currently around €40,400 or $43,500.

Togg, founded by industrial heavyweights in 2018, has a plant that aims to produce 175,000 cars a year and has been delivering in Turkey since mid-2023.

Turkey's rediscovered automotive aspirations has been egged on by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was the first official owner of a Togg car and has since gifted several models to world leaders.

Togg has not confirmed a timeline for a launch in further countries, Erdoğan says he expects Togg to begin global exports by 2025, and manufacture 1 million cars by 2030.

Togg an acronym of Türkiye'nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu and represents the merger of five large Turkish companies. Togg sees itself as a kind of Turkish Tesla with a focus on connectivity and electric mobility.

The first model arriving in Western Europe is purely electric: A 4.60-metre-long SUV rivalling the likes of VW's ID.4.

It is available with 52.4 or 88.5 kWh for standard ranges of up to 523 kilometres and with a high charging capacity: 22 kW on alternating current and 180 kW on direct current are possible.

Equipped with one or two Bosch motors, the T10X delivers up to 435 hp according to the makers, accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and reaches speeds of up to 185 km/h.

The highlight of the T10X is the cockpit: It's not just the full-length screen that is unrivalled in this class, says Karakas. But above all the services behind it, said to include digital art and a radio that constantly composes music using AI.

In Turkey, the T10X is part of an entire ecosystem, offering its own virtual currency from which you can book flights, make purchases, organize charging on your own Togg network or even pay your taxes. When the T10X launches elsewhere, there will be a version of this virtual world adapted to international markets, Karakas promised.