Tatar test drives ‘first’ electric car

PRESIDENT Ersin Tatar got behind the wheel of the first ever electric car to be produced in North Cyprus on Wednesday.

Mr Tatar took the right-hand drive Günsel B9, which has been built by Near East University (NEU), for a spin around a test track at the Günsel production facilities on the NEU campus, which is based on the outskirts of Lefkoşa.

In the passenger seat was NEU board of trustees chairman Prof Dr İrfan Suat Günsel.

President Tatar said he was “happy and delighted on behalf of my country” following the test drive and that he hoped to see the car on the roads once the “necessary test processes” have been completed. He also praised the team that designed and built the vehicle and congratulated the Günsel family for their “great success”.

Emphasising that the Günsel B9, as a “100 per cent electric car”, is an “important development for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” President Tatar said: “The world is changing now. It is necessary to protect the air, environment and [reduce] emissions.

“When Günsel is launched on the market . . . I believe it will attract attention in terms of both domestic production and comfort.”

He added that the car will make a “great contribution to the promotion, economy, exports, employment and development of the country”.

Prof Günsel thanked Mr Tatar for his visit. He said that the car, named after his family, had been produced with “one body, one heart and great faith” and by working “day and night”.

The Günsel B9 has taken 10 years and 1.2 million working hours to be produced, an NEU statement said.

It can travel 350km on a single charge – or from Lefke to Karpaz and back again – and has been made from 10,936 parts. The vehicle’s engine has a power of 140kW and the car can reach 100kph (62mph) in eight seconds. The top speed has been electronically limited to 170kph.

The Günsel B9’s battery can be charged in just 20 minutes using a “high-speed” charging point.

The first models of the car are available in yellow, red and blue.

“Yellow symbolises the soil of Cyprus and blue symbolises the homeland Mediterranean,” the NEU statement said.

“Red was inspired by the red star and crescent on the flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”