Astypalaia will become a model of green energy island

A model of a green energy and electric mobility island is to become the Greek island of Astypalaia with the help of Volkswagen, reports the German magazine Der Spiegel. This project was presented last week, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the head of the Volkswagen Group Herbert Diess.

“As tiny as Astypalaia is on the map of Europe, so big are the claims linking it to the prime minister and the high-ranking executive of the car industry. An ambitious Greek-German joint project was launched on the island in November 2020. The government and Volkswagen have promised to turn Astypalaia into a completely green island – it will be the first inhabited island in Europe to take such a step. This means that in the near future only electric vehicles will be moving there. Carbon dioxide emissions, petrol and diesel should essentially be eliminated,” the magazine points out.

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At the same time, in a statement from Diess, Astypalaia will become a “laboratory of the future for Europe”. Together with the Greek government, VW “will transform the entire island,” he wrote on Twitter.

As noted in the publication, the project is a test for the entire German Group, which in recent years has garnered negative publicity worldwide due to the scandal with its diesel cars.

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“Now, it seeks to become a leader of the global market in terms of electric mobility and at the same time to further develop its business model”. Diess has in mind not only the future sale of electric cars, but increasingly appearing as an infrastructure provider that can help entire regions gain green mobility.

“The Group advertises a wide range of possibilities, ‘from cars and charging to sustainable energy solutions’,” Spiegel’s authors explain, stressing that “what sounds like a kenology for creating impressions at the public relations level is a multi-billion euro future hope for VW.

The magazine also describes the various aspects of the plan and conveys statements by government officials that “Astypalaia’s shift to green energy is part of a general plan for the whole country”.

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