ASTYPALEA – The “Astypalea: Smart & Sustainable Island” project has four key parts, which were presented by Greek Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for Economic Diplomacy & Openness Kostas Fragogiannis at an event on the island on Thursday.

Fragogiannis is accompanying Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and coordinating the event on the island.

The first part concerns the gradual replacement of the island’s existing fleet of vehicles with electric ones, with generous support from Volkswagen and also from the Greek state, he noted.

Replacing Astypalea’s current diesel generators with green alternatives is the second part, while the third part concerns on-demand public transport, called “AstyBus”, which was presented on the day.

These three parts are currently being implemented and/or developed, while the fourth part, still in concept, is self-driving cars, capable of sensing the surrounding environment and operating with little or no human involvement.

The Astypalea island project is currently in the second year of its implementation, noted Fragogiannis, and is expected to be completed in 2026. The project was a vision of the prime minister to improve the quality of people’s lives, he said.

The minister also announced that Volkswagen donated a new electric ambulance to the island’s health center, and the creation of a photovoltaic charging station for e-cars.