Türkiye grants Tesla charging stations license as EV race heats up

Türkiye’s energy watchdog on Friday extended the U.S.-based electric carmaker Tesla a license to operate a charging network in the country.

Tesla is now one of 119 companies to operate charging stations and offers support to electric vehicle (EV) drivers across Türkiye.

“With charging stations to be installed at several locations, including parking lots, shopping centers and gas stations by licensed operators, electric vehicle owners will be able to receive charging services and will be able to travel more affordably in the face of rising fuel prices,” the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) said.

There are 3,728 commercial charging stations in Türkiye, including 3,082 slow (AC) and 646 fast (DC) charging stations, according to the authority.

Boosted by lower consumer tax rates than combustionengine cars, new electric car registrations have surged more than 90% in Türkiye since 2021, according to the EPDK data.

As of December 2022, 14,896 new electric vehicles were registered compared to 7,694 in the same month of 2021, the EPDK data showed. Although it is not officially in Türkiye, Tesla, run by billionaire Elon Musk, officially started hiring for its Istanbul service center in December and is reportedly due to launch in the country in the near future.

Musk, in May 2018, said Tesla had planned to enter Türkiye later that year, before the decision was abandoned after an escalating tariff dispute between Ankara and Washington.

The company already planned the deployment of Supercharger stations and issued a map showing the locations of the network.

Although the share of electric and hybrid cars remains at low levels, the growth in sales shows a soaring interest of consumers in the electrified market.

The EV competition in Türkiye is due to heat up as Togg, the first domestically made EV brand, is due to start deliveries as of the end of this month.

Togg began mass production in late October and sales of its first model, the C-segment SUV, are set to begin this month.

In what has been seen as a boost to the national car project, Türkiye last week announced it would impose an additional 40% customs duty on electric vehicles made in China.

The move came just days after Chinese EV giant BYD Co. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkish distributor ALJ Türkiye to enter the Turkish market with its passenger and light commercial vehicles.

China could use TikTok to control American user data: FBI

n The Chinese government could use the popular social media platform TikTok to control the data of millions of American users, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday, as he expressed concern about the video app.

Wray told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to U.S. security that the Chinese government could also use TikTok to control software on millions of devices and drive narratives to divide Americans over Taiwan or other issues. “Yes, and I would make the point on that last one, in particular, that we’re not sure that we would see many of the outward signs of it happening if it was happening,” Wray said of concerns China could feed misinformation to users. “This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government - and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns,” Wray said. The White House backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by a dozen senators to give President Joe Biden’s administration new powers to ban TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats. The endorsement boosted efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the popular app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and used by more than 100 million Americans. Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern during Senate testimony about TikTok’s data collection and potential to facilitate broad influence operations.