In 2025, Turkey’s electric car market ranked fourth in Europe. A recent analysis shows Turkey is now the fourth-largest market for fully electric vehicles in Europe. Around 190,000 battery-powered cars were sold in 2025.
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up nearly 17% of new passenger car sales in Turkey last year, matching the EU average for the first time, according to Ember, a London-based energy think tank.
The percentage was about 10% in 2024 when around 104,000 BEVs were sold. In the EU, the share of electric vehicles sold rose from 14% in 2024 to 17% last year.
Turkey moved from ninth place in 2023 to overtake countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium. This was due to an 80% annual increase in sales in 2025. Now, only France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are ahead of Turkey in Europe.
Electric vehicle sales started growing in 2023
In 2023, BEV sales in Turkey increased by 65,000 compared to 8,312 in 2022, making up 1.5% of all new car sales. The main reasons for the rise in sales were the launch of new models like Togg, a locally made electric vehicle brand, and changes in tax policies for vehicles in Turkey.
Interest in electric and hybrid vehicles has grown, leading to a decrease in sales of fossil fuel cars. Gasoline car sales in Turkey dropped to 520,000 in 2025 from a high of 635,000 in 2023. Similarly, diesel car sales fell from 154,000 in 2023 to 95,000 in 2025.
Ember reports that even with the rapid growth, just over 2% of all registered vehicles in Turkey are electric, and the use of gasoline continues to rise. A report said, “Although interest in electric vehicles has grown in recent years and sales of fossil fuel cars have begun to decline, the majority of vehicles on the road still use fossil fuels.”
Between January and November last year, gasoline usage increased by about 16% compared to the previous year. Crude oil imports also rose by 5.3%.
Ember says that transportation electrification is important as more renewable energy is used for power generation. Right now, Turkey has no new fossil fuel power plants, and all new power sources in 2025 were from renewable energy.
Turkey plans to triple its wind and solar energy capacity, which has reached 40 gigawatts (GW), by 2035. Ember believes this would allow increased electricity demand to be met with clean, domestic energy. The report said, “The shift to electric vehicles in transport will also help Türkiye become more energy independent.”
Ember also highlighted Turkey’s “very high” potential to cut energy imports. They believe this can be achieved by developing more favorable tax policies for electric vehicles. Even though electric cars that meet certain criteria have lower tax rates than other electric vehicles, the overall tax burden is still high.
The total tax on electric cars in the lowest tax bracket reaches 50% when value-added tax is included. For vehicles that move into a higher tax bracket due to higher prices, even with low engine power, the total tax rate raises to 86%. The report said, “As exchange rates rise, more electric vehicles fall into higher tax brackets, while the number of affordable and high-performance electric car options in the market is decreasing.”
In addition, Turkey applies high additional tariffs on all imported cars from countries without free trade agreements, like China. Ufuk Alparslan, Ember’s regional lead for Türkiye and the Caucasus, said, “Although electric cars have started to become common in Türkiye, there is still a large, untapped potential to reduce energy imports through renewable energy and electric vehicles. Tax policies that keep electric vehicle prices affordable could speed up this change,” Alparslan added.
Source: Daily Sabah
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