Turkish firm transforms used diesel-engine taxi into electric car

The general manager of the firm, Özer Aslan, told the Anatolia news agency they began the project with funding provided by the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB). The firm is now in the last stage of the project and has already received orders from cab drivers to upgrade their taxis.

Özer further revealed the details of the project, recalling: “We bought a used cab and stripped down its parts, including the engine, fuel injector, oil pump, transmission, fuel filter, etc. Later, my two partners and I worked on creating all of the metallic parts of the new engine for the car.” Aslan said they have already started test driving the new vehicle and are excited about the success they have achieved as a small firm.

According to Aslan, the maximum speed at which the electric car can operate is 120 kilometers per hour. It can travel as many as 180 kilometers per charge, which takes about seven hours. Operational costs will be only TL 0.20 per kilometer. “The firm plans to start production in June 2012,” he said.

He also discussed the cost of converting a regular car into an electric vehicle. “We can only convert the kinds of vehicles we have received approval to convert. The total costs of our project will be lower than TL 10,000, excluding batteries. A cab driver can easily amortize the project costs in five months. We also rent the batteries for TL 250-300 per month. As the annual cost of renting batteries equals the monthly cost of the liquefied petroleum gas used by cab drivers, drivers will save on fuel costs as well as maintenance costs,” he said.