Tesla Model 3 Road Trip to Istanbul, Part 1: Is Driving an EV to Turkey Really That Hard?

People still ask me whether an electric car can handle a trip that leaves the European Union behind. So I tested it: a round trip of more than 2,000 km (about 1,240 miles) from northeastern Romania to Istanbul and back, in my Tesla Model 3 Long Range. In part one, filmed in November 2024 and published on my "Mașina Timpului" channel, I show the drive there: a pre-dawn start, charging stops in Romania and Bulgaria, a night next to the Supercharger in Edirne, and the final stretch of highway into Istanbul. Every figure below is what I read on the car's screen or on the chargers.

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The start: 91% battery and three generations on board

I charged the car at home the night before and left at 6:13 a.m. with 91% battery. Along the way I picked up two passengers, one of them my mother. The plan: head south through Romania to Bucharest and Giurgiu, cross into Bulgaria at Ruse, drive through Bulgaria to the Turkish border and on to Edirne.

The first kilometers were in thick fog, and that's where I found a feature I hadn't seen before. I had Autopilot set to 100 km/h (62 mph), but the car capped its own speed at about 82–83 km/h (51 mph) with a message saying visibility was reduced. Once the fog lifted a little and there was a car ahead of me, the speed came back up. On an early-morning road trip, that's a safety feature I appreciate.

First stop, then a brand-new piece of highway

After 181 km (112 miles) and 2 hours 33 minutes I stopped at a highway service area in Adjud, which has four charging spots on two 300 kW chargers. We stayed 21 minutes to eat and use the restroom, and the car charged the whole time, so nobody waited on it.

Near Focșani I tried a newly opened bypass section of highway. The navigation didn't know about it yet, and it saved almost no time: the arrival estimate for my next pickup stayed basically the same as on the old road. My takeaway at the time was that it wasn't worth a detour until the full section was open.

Bucharest, the Danube and Bulgaria without range anxiety

On the way out of Bucharest I stopped at a fast charger at an OMV gas station. The car pulled 191 kW. We stayed 35 minutes, but I don't count that as waiting: we ate, grabbed coffee, and came back to 81%. Again, the car waited for us, not the other way around.

The border at Ruse went quickly, and after it I still had 70%. The car's trip planner said I could reach the Edirne Supercharger without stopping at all, arriving with about 9%. With a small child and my mother in the car, I chose a break after roughly five hours of driving anyway.

Eldrive in Bulgaria: plug in and it just starts

The second charging stop was an "Eldrive" charger at a Shell station, about 280 km (174 miles) after Bucharest. I arrived with 29% and wanted to show Autocharge: I plugged in and charging started right away, with no app and no card. Power climbed past 80 kW quickly, and the whole break took 16 minutes.

According to "Eldrive", Autocharge works on its DC chargers with CCS connectors. You enable it once in the app after a first charging session, and each activation is tied to a single car. The network also notes that not every model supports it, so check before you go.

The border queue and a night in Edirne

I left Bulgaria at the Lesovo crossing. The road there was uneven, and about 11 km (7 miles) before the border a long line of trucks began. Cars pass them carefully in the opposite lane, sorting things out with oncoming traffic. If you drive this route, take that stretch slowly.

I reached the Edirne Supercharger with 34%. It sits in a hotel parking lot. The hotel says it has 10 stalls, 4 of them V4, and Tesla lists it among its Turkish Supercharger sites. We were tired, so we stayed the night. I charged to 80–81% while we carried in the bags, didn't leave the battery at 100% overnight, and in the morning plugged in again during breakfast, reaching 98%.

The final stretch: a three-lane highway into Istanbul

We left Edirne at 8:25 a.m. The car estimated I'd arrive in Istanbul with about 50%. The Turkish highway from Edirne has three lanes, one used mostly by trucks, and excellent pavement. In the first hour we covered about 120 km (75 miles), including getting out of town.

I also noticed that standard Autopilot had become more relaxed after a software update. Before, it asked me to nudge the wheel roughly every 10 seconds. Now I could go longer, and the reminder cleared with the lightest touch. The car also moved itself into one of the lanes well ahead of points where the highway widened from two to three lanes. That doesn't mean you can stop paying attention, but on a long trip it's genuinely comfortable. One detail from back then: the car had no mobile data connection in Turkey, but GPS kept working.

The last part, into the city, took close to three hours, because Istanbul traffic really is that heavy. In part two I'll show you the drive home.

What it means for drivers

• You can drive an EV to Turkey without stress. On the route through Ruse and Lesovo, with Romanian fast chargers, Eldrive in Bulgaria and the Edirne Supercharger, I never had a stop where I was only waiting for the battery.
• Charging stops fit normal breaks. 21, 35 and 16 minutes, exactly as long as it took to eat, get coffee or use the restroom.
• Sort out Turkey's highway tolls. According to Turkey's "KGM", foreign-plated vehicles need an HGS account with enough balance for toll highways and bridges. You can open one at PTT offices, including at border crossings. Check your balance before leaving the country to avoid trouble at the border.
• Don't forget the Bulgarian vignette. Bulgarian highways and main roads require an electronic vignette, which you can buy online from "BG TOLL".
• Leave a margin for the Turkish border. The truck queue can start kilometers before the crossing, so don't arrive with the battery at its limit.
• Edirne is a great overnight stop. You charge in the hotel parking lot and leave for Istanbul in the morning with a nearly full battery.