‘My Tesla has become ordinary’: Turkey catches up with EU in electric car sales | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars

WWhen Berke Astarcıoğlu bought a BMW i3 in 2016, he was one of only 44 people in a country of 80 million to buy a battery electric vehicle (BEV) that year. By the time he bought a Tesla in 2023, BEVs were no longer a pure oddity in Türkiye, accounting for 7% of new car sales.

Two years later, electric cars are selling so fast that Turkey has caught up with the EU in adoption rates. Its market is now the fourth in Europe, behind Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

“A premium product is something that makes you happy but not everyone can have,” said Astarcıoğlu, a mechatronics engineer from Istanbul and developer of an app to find charging stations. “My Tesla has become a regular car here.”

BEVs accounted for 16.7% of new car sales in Türkiye in 2025, just behind the EU’s 17.4%, according to registration data released on Tuesday. Although the popularity rate is lower than in the Netherlands or the Nordic countries, where BEVs account for 35-96% of new cars sold, sales in Turkey have outpaced almost all countries in Southern and Eastern Europe.

The rise of electric vehicles is part of a global trend in which emerging markets from Uruguay to Vietnam are rejecting fossil fuel cars with surprising speed. The latest data comes as Turkey prepares to host the United Nations climate summit and a month after the EU eased its ban on new combustion engine cars by 2035.

Analysts attribute the boom to a disparity in Turkey’s special consumption tax, which has made electric cars barely more expensive than comparable gasoline cars. Sales remained high even after the government increased taxes on electric vehicles in August.

“In practice, Turks don’t buy electric vehicles because it’s environmentally friendly,” said Ufuk Alparslan, an analyst at climate think tank Ember, arguing that operating costs were lower for electric cars. “The motivation is purely economic.”

Electrifying car fleets is seen as a crucial step to decarbonize the transport sector and reduce pollution, but efforts in many regions have faced obstacles. In the EU, where greenhouse gas emissions from cars have increased by 17% since 1990, attempts to phase out combustion engines have been met with fierce resistance from the auto industry.

The Turkish government does not have a dedicated electric vehicle strategy, but has championed a national automaker, Togg, which overtook Tesla in 2024 as the country’s top seller of electric vehicles. In an interview with Bloomberg HT last week, Togg Chairman of the Board Fuat Tosyalı announced plans to increase production from 40,000 cars in 2025 to 60,000 in 2026.

Togg’s entry into the market, supported by tax support and zero-interest loans from state-owned banks, helped normalize the adoption of electric vehicles, said Berkan Bayram, founder of the Turkish Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Association. “It won the hearts of Turkish buyers.”

Foreign automakers facing import duties have benefited from Togg’s favorable tax system, with manufacturers like Tesla reducing engine power in Turkey to fall into the same favorable tax bracket. Chinese group BYD is also fighting for a larger market share and plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Türkiye.

In addition to the environmental benefits of replacing fossil fuel vehicles, the transition to electric mobility could be a geopolitical boon for countries that do not produce oil themselves. Turkey’s car fleet is expected to quadruple by 2053, sending demand for oil imports soaring, according to a report from InstitutDE, a Brussels-based Turkish diplomatic think tank.

Although imports will increase in all scenarios studied, the inability to run more cars on electricity would increase Turkey’s exposure to external shocks, price volatility and geopolitical risks, the report said.

However, the recent increase in BEV sales may not herald a systemic shift away from fossil fuel cars. Tax incentives are “very fragile” and can change easily, said Baki Kaya, an economist and former diplomat who co-wrote the InstitutDE report.

“This is not the result of a strategic decision,” he said. “And I’m personally not that optimistic [it will continue].”

Ember’s analysis found that the overall tax burden on electric cars remained high, with the total tax on electric cars in the lowest bracket reaching 50% and rising to 86% in a higher bracket. Without changes, inflation and exchange rates could soon reduce the number of affordable BEVs, Alparslan said.

“Even though electric cars have started to become widespread in Turkey, there is still significant and untapped potential to reduce energy imports through renewable energy and electric vehicles,” he said. “Tax policies that keep electric vehicle prices at more affordable levels could accelerate this dynamic. »