The Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority announced that it granted Tesla a licence to operate a charging network in the country.
Per the Daily Sabah, the licence has been a long time coming and is part of the roadmap for Tesla to officially launch in Turkey. In December, Tesla posted several jobs in Turkey for its Istanbul Service Center. So, many believe the launch is imminent.
In May 2018, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would launch in Turkey by the end of the year. However, with rising tensions between the United States and Turkey, plans were shelved indefinitely. While we also saw reports last year of an impending Tesla launch that never materialized.
As part of the prep for the 2018 launch, Tesla had mapped out a Supercharger network for the country. However, we are unsure if the company is planning to keep with that plan in 2023 or alter it.
This is an exciting time for Turkey as the domestic EV market is heating up. A domestic EV company, Togg, is starting deliveries at the end of the month. While BYD, Tesla’s main rival in China, signed an agreement with Turkish distributor ALK Turkiye to enter the Turkish market only a few days ago.
For its sake, Tesla did not comment on any planned launches in 2023. Nor did they confirm when or if construction would start on any additional Superchargers in the country.
