Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a test drive of his country's first-ever electric car during a presentation of the vehicle in Turkey's northwestern Gebze province on Friday.
"We are witnessing a historic day, realizing a 60-year-old dream. I know that our people are impatiently waiting for the day they can own this car,” Erdogan said during the presentation.
A video showing the Turkish President driving an electric car has been shared online.
Allah utandırmasın! #yerliotobil in direksiyonunda ömrünü milletine adamış bir hizmet adamı @RTErdogan . #bizseninleölümüne https://t.co/KNhtmLtjpf
— Engin Erden 🇹🇷 (@shevaego) December 27, 2019
The unveiled cars (the SUV and sedan models) were named TOGG after a consortium of five Turkish companies that will produce them.
In a tweet, Anadolu News Agency confirmed that TOGG's production plant, which will cost 23 billion liras ($3.7 billion) will be constructed in the province of Bursa and is slated to be completed by 2021. Production will begin a year later, the agency said, citing the venture group’s head.
According to Turkish media, the car was designed by Italy's Pininfarina company, known for creating models for Ferrari and US-based electric car maker Karma.
