Turkish army gets three more E-ZPT electric armored carriers

Türkiye’s state-owned defense company MKE has delivered three more E-ZPT electric armored personnel carriers to the Turkish Land Forces Command, adding to a small fleet of rebuilt M113s that run on battery power instead of a diesel engine alone.

MKE announced the handover in a post on X on Oct. 15, describing the E-ZPT as Türkiye’s first electric armored personnel carrier. The company said the vehicle’s all-electric drive gives it lower acoustic and thermal signatures, making it harder for enemy troops and sensors to hear or spot, and that maintenance and repair costs are lower than for conventional vehicles.

The E-ZPT is a modernized version of the M113, the tracked American-designed troop carrier that has served in the Turkish military for decades. MKE kept the original armored hull and replaced the powertrain with electric motors fed by battery packs mounted on both sides of the vehicle, an approach that lets the army reuse existing hulls.

On battery power alone, the vehicle can travel about 150 km (93 miles), Turdef reported, and an onboard diesel generator that recharges the batteries on the move stretches total range to 650 km (404 miles). MKE said fast charging takes the batteries from 20% to 80% in 1.5 hours. The E-ZPT carries seven people, including a driver, a commander, a gunner and four more crew members, and is armed with a 12.7 mm remote-controlled weapon station.

The vehicle has a combat weight of around 15 tonnes and can carry 2.5 tonnes of payload. Before acceptance, MKE put it through a qualification program that began in October 2024 and covered about 3,000 km (1,860 miles) of driving on asphalt and off-road terrain, along with climbs on 60% gradients, 30% side slopes, trench crossings and testing in hot and cold weather.

Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defense announced the delivery of the first serial-production E-ZPT in January 2026, and MKE handed over its first batch of three vehicles to the Land Forces in July. The program calls for 50 E-ZPTs in total, C Savunma reported, and MKE has also developed an armed version of the electric M113 called the E-ZMA.

With the latest handover, MKE has now delivered two batches of three E-ZPTs to the Turkish Land Forces this year, as it works toward the planned fleet of 50 electric carriers.