President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will be the first to receive a Togg, Türkiye’s new indigenous electric vehicle (EV), a senior official said Friday, as long-awaited shipments are due to begin.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank’s statement came two days after buyers of the first batch of Togg’s EV model T10X were selected through a digital draw.
The demand had been so high that the carmaker had to eventually raise the number of units it will start delivering as of April to 20,000, up from the initially planned 12,000.
Over 177,400 people submitted preorders for the vehicle in just 21 days. The deliveries are planned to start in April.
"We will deliver the vehicle to Mr. President (Erdoğan), who had placed the first order for Togg, on Monday," said Varank.
Erdoğan had offered to put his name down on a possible list for advance orders back in December 2019, when he first unveiled prototypes of Togg.
The president has long sought to fulfill a long-held dream of building Türkiye's first national automobile.
He has long pushed industrialists to build a domestic car as part of his vision for making Türkiye an economic powerhouse.
"We have also got a request from the president of Azerbaijan, Mr. Aliyev. We plan to deliver the second vehicle to Mr. Aliyev," Varank told a meeting in the capital Ankara.
Thereafter, the company will start delivering other vehicles according to its plans, the minister said.
Having had its mass production launched in late October, Togg said its fully electric T10X, a C-segment SUV, would be initially sold with one engine and two battery options.
The model will feature battery packs with capacities of 52.4 and 88.5 kilowatt-hours, boasting ranges of 314 and 523 kilometers, respectively.
The first version of the T10X can accelerate from zero to 100 kph (62.14 mph) in 7.6 seconds, while the second, for which delivery will start on Oct. 29, can do zero-100 kph in 4.8 seconds.
Togg’s first model will have a price ranging from TL 953,000 (around $50,230) to around TL 1.22 million.
The vehicle is being manufactured by a consortium of five Turkish companies called the Automobile Initiative Group of Türkiye, or Togg, in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB).
The batteries of the Togg T10X can be recharged to up to 80% from 20% in less than 28 minutes at fast-charging stations.
Calling itself a technology brand that blends digital and physical experiences, Togg has joined hands with multiple startups to create a new mobility ecosystem.
Besides the SUV, Togg will manufacture another four models – a sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV – through the year 2030. The sedan will follow the mass production of the SUV.
The carmaker earlier said it aimed to produce up to 20,000 cars this year. Although it marks a low level compared to global standards, Togg achieving this output level will see it more than doubling Türkiye’s electric car fleet within a year.
The current production capacity stands at around 100,000 vehicles per year, a figure that is expected to reach 175,000 once Togg’s factory reaches full capacity.
The brand aims to produce 1 million vehicles across the five segments by 2030.