- Volkswagen starts delivering EVs to residents of the Aegean Sea island of Astypalea in an effort to transform all transport on the island to electric mobility.
- The automaker plans for 1000 EVs to replace about 1500 gas- and diesel-engined vehicles on the island.
- VW is also introducing electric ride-sharing services to the 44-square-mile island, along with electric bicycles and scooters.
Volkswagen has delivered the first EVs to private customers on Astypalea as part of an experiment to transform the Greek island to an EV-only oasis. VW handed over the first examples of the ID.4 and VW e-up! hatchback to the island’s residents, in addition to the new ID.3 hatch and the Seat MÓ eScooter 125.
The automaker’s Smart & Sustainable Island project, conducted in partnership with the Greek government, will eventually see 1000 EVs replace a fleet of some 1500 gas- and diesel-engined cars on the 44-square-mile island, with electric bicycles and scooters also part of a new fleet being introduced. Emergency vehicles and commercial vehicles will also be replaced with electric ones in the near future, with vehicle rental agencies switching to zero-emission models as well.
“Astypalea is a laboratory for the mobility of the future. The island is experiencing the same change as any other region in Europe, only in a much shorter time. With the first private customers driving electric now, word will quickly get around how fascinating e-mobility is,” said Maik Stephan, project manager and head of business development at Volkswagen Group.
VW is working on more than simply importing new EVs. It’s also getting rid of all the scrap vehicles currently polluting the island, often sitting abandoned in ravines instead of being recycled. (If you’ve ever been to Greece, you know this is a major issue in the country, even on the Aegean Sea islands.) The automaker is now working with the municipality and the importer for Greece Kosmocar to collect broken cars, trucks, and motorcycles from the island, and ship them to the capital Athens on the mainland to be professionally recycled.
As on other islands in the Aegean Sea, the ability of the local industry to properly recycle scrapped vehicles is limited, which often leads them to be stored indefinitely once they’re no longer running, often by the side of the road or hidden away in the countryside, as shipping them to the mainland imposes costs.
The next stages of the project will include the launch of all-electric ride sharing and vehicle sharing, just in time for the summer tourist season.
“E-mobility is a perfect match for Astypalea,” said Thanos Papagiannis, shown above, who’s the first ID.3 customer on Astypalea. “The distances here are short, the power consumption is low, and the charging network is now very well developed. I really hope that Astypalea will inspire other regions to increase their efforts for climate protection (by) adopting e-mobility solutions.”
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
