Turkish carmaker Karsan rolls out Turkey’s first electric driverless bus

Turkish carmaker Karsan has introduced Turkey's first domestically produced driverless electric bus, Karsan Atak Electric.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 1 attended a test drive of the vehicle.

"Autonomous bus producers will promote Turkey and Turkish brands globally," he said.

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank was also present at the event.

Karsan Atak Electric has a range of 300 kilometers (some 186 miles) without interruption thanks to its BMW 220-kWh Li-Ion batteries, according to the company.
"Atak Electric can charge its battery in five hours with AC or in three hours with DC," Karsan said.

The 8.3-meter-length (27.2 feet) bus has a capacity of more than 50 passengers.

Karsan Level-4 Automated Atak Electric will be fully aware of its surroundings as it will detect living and non-living entities much accurately than human senses thanks to its various sensors, in-vehicle computing power, HD-Map technology and autonomous driving software platform, according to the carmaker.

The electric vehicle's other features include monitoring road conditions, responding to obstacles, determining when to turn or change lanes along with an option to set a pre-defined specific route.

The firm has already started the mass production of the bus.

Another Turkish automotive firm Otokar also tested an autonomous electric bus last month.