Thanks to VW’s know-how: A Greek island is becoming an El Dorado for e-mobility

Thanks to VW’s know-how
A Greek island is becoming an Eldorado for e-mobility

By Andrea Sellmann and Mary Abdelaziz-Ditzow
October 12, 2023, 9:30 a.m

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On a small island in the Aegean, VW is making modern mobility concepts come true. The cooperation on Astypalea is a prime example of German-Greek economic relations. Are the times of crisis in Greece finally over?

Smart, sustainable and open to change: this is how the Greek island of Astypalea can be described. Covering an area of ​​just 96 square kilometers, it offers ideal opportunities to make green transformation a reality in a small area. For the German economist Jens Bastian, the project is a prime example of German-Greek economic relations.

The Greek government and the German car manufacturer Volkswagen have jointly given the starting signal for the electrification of the island in 2021. Within five years, the island is said to have transformed into a purely electric island. This doesn’t just happen through the use of electric cars and charging stations. The local power station is also to be converted completely to renewable energies.

“This is very well received in Greece,” reports Jens Bastian in the “Wirtschaft Welt & Weit” podcast. This gives German companies a new image: in public perception, Germany is already closely linked to the topic of energy transformation, says the emigrant, who has lived in Greece for 24 years.

A model also for the mainland?

A model just for islands or also for the mainland? And has Greece, which was in the grip of the financial crisis for a long time, finally put the difficult years behind it? In the new podcast episode, host Mary Abdelaziz-Ditzow discusses the potential of bilateral economic relations with Jens Bastian and the second Greece expert Ascan Iredi. Of course, the geopolitical perspective should not be missing. And so it is also about the difficult relationship between Greece and neighboring Turkey, which German companies will not ignore when moving to Greece.

Jens Bastian was a member of the EU Commission’s so-called task force for Greece during times of crisis. He is also a fellow at the Center for Applied Turkish Studies at the Science and Politics Foundation, so he also has excellent knowledge of his Turkish neighbor. Ascan Iredi heads portfolio management at Plutos Vermögensverwaltung and observes German-Greek economic relations from the outside from the perspective of a financial market expert.