German-born Taha Uluhan joined Türkiye’s reverse brain drain scheme to attract scientists, entrepreneurs and other accomplished personalities to their native country. The 27-year-old now leads an ambitious project focused on reducing the carbon footprint of electric cars.

Uluhan recently appeared at an event in Information Technologies (IT) Valley, a fast-growing technology and innovation hub in northwestern Türkiye where he explained his project and story of his return to the country.

Uluhan previously worked at Mercedes while also working on a side project to recycle the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and their ingredients. "In the meantime, Türkiye was establishing new technology parks and organizing events like Teknofest to encourage Turkish youth to enter engineering. I decided to return to Türkiye in 2021 upon our president’s call for (researchers abroad) and because I believed in the potential of my country," he said. The entrepreneur works with a crew of 12 experts, including six who came to Türkiye from Germany and Switzerland to work on the project. "We are resolved to establish our pilot facility by the end of this year and hope to export our technology soon," he said. "Electric cars are not carbon-neutral as people believe. They emit carbon monoxide and these emissions largely stem from batteries. We are working to reduce this environmental impact by recycling batteries and to include them entirely in a circular system for reuse," he said.

The market share of electric vehicles around the world increased 41-fold in the last 10 years and reached 8.3%. Last year, electric vehicle sales reached 6.75 million, up 108% from earlier. Within the scope of the goals in combating climate change, countries are accelerating the conversion to low carbon technologies to reduce their fossil fuel consumption. While electric vehicles are critical in reducing emissions from the transportation sector, automobile brands' investments and brand models in this area are increasing rapidly.