The real transformation in Türkiye will take place in Home Charging Infrastructure

Electric vehicle sales in Türkiye have grown rapidly since 2023, and this transformation is expected to extend beyond the automotive sector, creating significant implications for the energy and real estate industries in the coming years. The introduction of new, competitively priced and performance-oriented models is making electric vehicles increasingly accessible to consumers, while the growing EV fleet is rapidly increasing the need for charging infrastructure.

2025 marked a significant milestone for electric mobility in Türkiye. Fully electric vehicles accounted for 17% of new car sales, reaching the European Union average. This share stood at 10% in Türkiye in 2024. During the same period, the share of electric vehicles in new car sales across the European Union increased from 14% to 17%. In Türkiye, electric car sales increased by approximately 80% year-on-year, reaching around 190,000 units. This growth moved Türkiye into fourth place in Europe in terms of new electric car sales, behind Germany, the United Kingdom and France. In 2023, Türkiye ranked ninth. (Source: Ember)

Despite this rapid growth, the share of electric vehicles in the overall vehicle fleet remains relatively limited, indicating that the transformation is still at an early stage. Approximately 2% of registered passenger cars in Türkiye are currently electric, pointing to significant growth potential for the market in the coming years. At the same time, the continued high level of fossil fuel consumption indicates that the transition to electric mobility will be a long-term process, involving not only new vehicle sales but also the gradual transformation of the existing vehicle fleet.

Indeed, during the first 11 months of 2025, gasoline consumption in Türkiye increased by approximately 16% compared with the same period of the previous year, while crude oil imports rose by 5.3%. During the same period, the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict that began in June 2025 once again highlighted risks related to supply security and price volatility in global oil markets. The resumption of hostilities in February 2026, following US and Israeli attacks on Iran, further intensified these geopolitical risks. Developments around the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of global oil trade passes, once again demonstrated the significance of geopolitical risks for global energy supply and prices.

For countries such as Türkiye, which remain highly dependent on energy imports, these developments demonstrate that the transportation sector’s dependence on oil is not only an economic issue but also a strategic one. The transition to electric vehicles should therefore be viewed not merely as a shift in transportation technology, but also from the perspective of energy security, reducing external dependency, and diversifying energy sources. The expansion of electric vehicles and the integration of charging infrastructure with renewable energy sources represent a significant long-term opportunity to reduce the transportation sector’s dependence on oil.

As the electric vehicle fleet continues to expand, one of the key questions for the coming period will be how charging infrastructure can scale accordingly. While fast-charging stations will remain essential for long-distance travel, homes, residential complexes and workplaces—where vehicles are parked for extended periods—are expected to become increasingly important charging locations for everyday use.

A significant proportion of electric vehicles remain parked for long periods during the day or overnight. Therefore, being able to charge a vehicle safely, conveniently and at an appropriate capacity where it is parked will be critical not only for the user experience but also for the sustainable expansion of charging infrastructure. In Türkiye, where apartment and residential complex living is widespread, home charging is not simply a matter of installing a charging unit. The capacity of the existing electrical infrastructure, connection configuration, cable routes and anticipated future charging demand all need to be considered together.

This is where smart charging and energy management systems become increasingly important. In residential and commercial buildings where multiple electric vehicles may be charging simultaneously, managing charging demand together with the building’s existing electricity consumption can improve infrastructure utilization and help optimize additional power requirements. As a result, the charging infrastructure of the future will consist not only of charging hardware, but also of digital systems capable of managing these devices and optimizing energy consumption.

The growing adoption of electric vehicles is also making charging infrastructure an increasingly important component of the energy sector. Charging solutions integrated with solar energy and energy storage systems can enable vehicles to be charged using renewable electricity while also helping optimize energy costs. In this model, the electric vehicle becomes more than a transportation asset that consumes electricity; it can become part of a broader energy management ecosystem.

This transformation is also creating new planning requirements for the real estate sector. In new residential and commercial developments, EV charging infrastructure should increasingly be designed as an integral part of the project’s electrical infrastructure from the outset, rather than being treated as an additional feature to be installed at a later stage. Going forward, the value proposition of real estate projects is expected to increasingly consider not only parking capacity, but also the capacity, scalability and energy management capabilities of their EV charging infrastructure.

Türkiye’s rapid growth in the electric vehicle market makes it essential for charging infrastructure to develop at a similar pace and through proper planning. However, the key challenge is not simply to install more charging stations. The real requirement is to establish an integrated charging ecosystem that is located in the right places, designed with the right capacity, connected to the energy infrastructure and managed intelligently.

The next phase of electric mobility in Türkiye is expected to place greater emphasis on charging solutions integrated with homes, residential complexes, workplaces and renewable energy systems. Turning the rapid growth in electric vehicle sales into a sustainable mobility transformation will depend not only on increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road, but also on planning and developing the energy and charging infrastructure required to support them at the right time, at the right capacity and through a holistic approach.