24.04.2023 Gemlik / Bursa
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President and Togg Chairman M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu addressed the participants at the Construction Commencement Ceremony of Siro Silk Road Clean Energy Storage Technologies Battery Development and Production Campus, established in partnership with Togg and energy company Farasis, held in the Gemlik district of Bursa with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the second biggest investment in the technology journey after Togg is Siro.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
explained that much more needs to be done to become an important player of the “New
League,” “We are an energy importing country, but together with Togg, we will
seize a very important opportunity that we can call ‘the oil of tomorrow’. The
oil of tomorrow is battery technologies. Because in the world of tomorrow,
those who can store energy, not extract it from underground, will win. All
countries are competing with each other on this issue.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating
that with this new investment, they will be able to produce the battery cell, which
is the heart of battery technology, made the following evaluations:
“I hope Türkiye will be
one of the 7 countries in the world that can develop and produce its own cells.
In order to further grow these investments, we are also working on investments that
can produce critical components such as anodes and cathodes that can secure
mines in Türkiye. With all these investments, Allah willing, we will be an
important player in the energy league of tomorrow with the support of our
state. We will be a country that has a say not only in electric mobility
technologies, but also in energy storage solutions. From 2019 onwards, the
‘Togg is more than just a car. Togg is a new challenge. Togg is a technological
transformation.’ Today, we are at an important turning point in this journey.
First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to Mr. President who put
forward the idea and vision of such a great project. They not only came up with
the idea and vision, but also supported us at every stage of the last 5 years.
Secondly, I would like to especially thank Farasis, our partner in this
project, all its managers, for believing in the future of Türkiye and Togg and
for starting this investment with us.”
- President Erdoğan: “Togg is never an ordinary vehicle with its story
and features”
In his speech at the
ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that one of the biggest dreams
they made a reality last month was Türkiye's automobile Togg, “Togg is never an
ordinary vehicle with its story and features. Our national pride Togg is also
one of the symbols of Türkiye's technological development, economic development
and global prestige.”
Pointing out that Türkiye
has declared it has a stake in the increasingly developing electric vehicle
sector with the introduction of Togg for sale, Erdoğan emphasized that Türkiye
has a car and brand that can compete with the best in the world with the
domestic and national automobile on the roads.
Erdoğan said, “Türkiye's
car will be electric,” he emphasized that they were actually putting forward a
vision. Pointing out that they have taken a visionary step by anticipating the
transformation to be experienced in the automotive sector and the revolution in
the world, Erdoğan said, “We set out by aiming to make Türkiye the production
base of Europe in charging and battery technologies as well as electric
vehicles. Togg was the first step in this vision. By putting this smart device
into mass production, we have also spread the seeds of our country's innovative
and sustainable future in the automotive sector. Charging stations are another
important link of this vision. Within the scope of the Fast Charging Stations
for Electric Vehicles Support Program, we supported the installation of 1572
charging stations in 81 provinces. The number of fast charging points, which
was 250 in August 2022, exceeded 700. The number of AC charging stations has
reached 3,000. These numbers will increase even more in the coming period.”
- Minister Varank
Minister of Industry
and Technology Mustafa Varank said, “In the realization of Türkiye's automobile
and SIRO investment, there are signatures, instructions and follow-up of our
President himself. Thankfully, by bringing such important works to Türkiye, Allah
willing, we will build the Turkish Century together. I just want to thank you
as a Bursa resident: I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. President for
bringing Türkiye's automobile factory and then this battery factory investment
to Gemlik in Bursa.”
- Gürcan Karakaş
Togg CEO Gürcan Karakaş
said that they set out to build more than just cars, and that they created the
ecosystem that would redefine the rules of the game.
Stating that 82 percent
of the orders were received through the application, Karakaş said, “We received
the rest through the website. We are here for clean energy solutions. We have
progressed step by step in our targets that we started in 2018. After October
29, we passed 92 tests and completed the certifications. We have started our
first vehicle deliveries. We received great interest in the pre-order. We
received 177,500 orders. We increased our production volumes to 28,000. We made
these orders through Trumore. It has more than 1 million active users. A
serious figure for a new application. We have expanded fixed and mobile
experience centers throughout Türkiye. With the service center, we enrich it at
the points where everyone can reach. Charging infrastructure is one of the
important criteria. We bought a thousand charging stations at the beginning of
the journey. We started to set them up. By the end of May, we will have spread
to 80 provinces and all of Türkiye.”
Explaining the work
done to develop and produce batteries, Karakaş said that they examined battery
companies all over the world for 18 months and decided to continue with
Farasis. Karakaş underlined that they will also contribute to employment with
the facility, adding that the number of SIRO employees, which was 26 last year,
has exceeded 370 today and will be 700 at the end of the year.