Sursa foto: Citroen
The pioneering project aims to transform the island of Halki (also known as Chalki) in Greece into a sustainable, zero-emission mobility zone. Halki has become a laboratory in Europe where the transition to green energy is being implemented with several partners such as Syngelidis Group, Citroën, Vinci and Akuo Greece, while Volkswagen or Renault are working in other areas. This is in line with the belief that mobility should be available to everyone.
“We are really happy to collaborate with Chalki Island on this project. This collaboration is completely in line with the spirit of Citroën, an innovative and daring brand, closely linked to people in their daily lives and their mobility. We are committed to making electrification available to all and we are very proud to contribute to making Chalki an island that will be autonomous, intelligent and sustainable,” says Vincent Cobée, Citroën CEO.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Greek government, the Citroën/Syngelidis Group, Vinci and Akuo Greece, the leverage has been activated to transform the island of Chalki into a “zero emission” economy. Citroën and the Syngelidis Group are taking all measures to offer a range of electric vehicles that will use only renewable energy. The aim is to make this progress available to all residents and businesses on the island.
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And the French want all residents and public authorities to take full advantage of the electric vehicles that are accessible on the island.
To start with, Citroën is therefore supplying a fleet of six fully electric vehicles to the public authorities of Chalki, namely two Ami to the police and the Coast Guard respectively, together with 2 ë-C4 and 1 ë-Spacetourer to the Chalki municipality and 1 ë-Jumpy will also be delivered to the Chalki Energy Community. For two of these cars, there will be a free lease for 48 months, after which Citroen will buy back the cars and donate them to the municipality of Chalki.
There is a major move towards electrification of the fleet on the island, and the aim is to replace all traditional petrol vehicles with electric ones. Through a comprehensive development plan for smart and climate-neutral mobility, Citroën will offer island residents and businesses the opportunity to purchase zero-emission electric vehicles through a wide range of green and smart mobility options, from light.
People on the island will get a significant improvement in their daily lives with less noise, better air quality, a cleaner environment and lower energy costs.
“The concrete and pragmatic approach of making Chalki Island green by providing electric vehicles and starting from the immediate transformation of Chalki into a sustainable island with climate-neutral mobility has really attracted Citroën and echoes its own commitment to sustainable mobility. With our support, Chalki becomes the first Greek green island” says Polychronis Syngelidis, President of the Syngelidis Group.
Similar projects already exist for the larger islands of Fernando de Noronha in Brazil, Belle-Île-en-Mer in France and Porto Santo in Portugal. Renault – Citroën’s French competitor – is leading all three projects. The VW Group and the Greek government, on the other hand, agreed a year ago to build a “pioneering mobility system” on the Mediterranean island of Astypalea. To this end, the island’s current transport system is to be converted to electric vehicles powered by renewable energy.
Halki is a 27-square-kilometer island with a coastline of about 34 kilometers. It forms a municipality with the neighboring island of Alimia and several other uninhabited islands. The landscape is predominantly barren and mountainous. Only the port town of Emborios is inhabited: just under 500 people live there. Halki is now the first of several islands in the Aegean Sea that the Greek government wants to turn into an ecological zone.