Duvar English
As electric vehicles (EV) become more common in Turkey, the lack of proper infrastructure in shared buildings has been causing numerous problems.
According to the report of the daily Türkiye, some residents have been charging their vehicles in outlets without proper infrastructure, which poses a significant fire risk.
The cost of unauthorized use of shared outlets has been paid by all residents, leading to lawsuits in shared residential areas.
Experts point out that the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Ministry’s related directive states that connections must be made without altering the electrical system and that the installation of charging units should not affect other units or common areas.
Many buildings have electric meters on residential floors, and extending cables from there or the electric meters to the parking lots violates the ministry’s conditions. In some cases, drilling through reinforced concrete walls is needed for cables to pass.
Such actions not only pose a seismic risk to the buildings but also create visual disruptions in common areas.
In buildings without charging infrastructure, transformers’ capacities fall short, and all transformers need power upgrades. Experts emphasize that this change to the electrical system also violates the ministry’s directive. These costly operations must be covered by users according to the Condominium Law.
However, unauthorized charging still has been occurring in parking lots and buildings, posing significant fire hazards.
While extinguishing an electric vehicle can be harder, the risk of fire spreading to all vehicles in underground parking lots also exists.
Moreover, in some buildings, unauthorized charging of EVs from common areas has been prevalent, impacting the shared costs of the building or site. In such cases, residents have the right to file lawsuits with a long litigation process.
EVs in Turkey
According to the latest “Monthly Statistics of the Charging Service Market” report by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), the total installed capacity of charging stations in November 2023 reached 1,644 megawatts.
The report also indicated that the number of sockets increased from 10,701 in November 2023 to 25,096 in November 2024, marking a 134.5% rise.
According to EPDK’s data, the number of electric vehicles has seen a 107% increase year-on-year. In the same period in 2023, there were 80,826 electric vehicles, but by November, this number had risen to 167,519.
