Real enthusiasm does not want to arise on Saturday on the Bürgerplatz in Garching. A group of Bayern fans alone creates the atmosphere, but it has nothing to do with the event there. Two local associations of the Greens have organized an electromobility day that takes place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Garching and Oberschleißheim at the same time.
On a sunny day, the Bürgerplatz in Garching would certainly not have been a bad place to do some advertising for electromobility and of course your own party. But the dark cloud cover that hangs ominously over the city does not attract too many people outside on Saturday. A light drizzle sets in around noon.
According to her own statement, Rosemarie Reichler is “a bit disappointed” with the “quite manageable” offer. She and her husband Walter have taken shelter under the tent of an e-bike company. The small pavilion on the other side of the square, under which some members of the Green Party have fled, wriggles in the strong wind. Next to the pavilion are a colorfully printed hydrogen car and another simple model. An electric car has been on the road for a test drive for half an hour.
The Reichlers could only imagine a battery-powered car as a second car. And if so, “then not for long distances”. But to go into town, she actually has an e-bike, says Rosemarie Reichler. Her husband Walter, who is passionate about technology, even owns two. He doubts that electromobility is “the last word in wisdom”. And anyway: “Who can afford that?” The Greens have to be asked this question again and again. Because the bicycles and cars on display are definitely not available for little money.
“There are now enough battery-operated used cars,” replies Maximilian Krause. On the subject, his flow of speech can hardly be stopped. His long, red-brown beard wobbles restlessly back and forth as he speaks. The chairman of the Garching local association of the Greens said he found it a bit “questionable” how some of them raced through the mountains on their e-bikes. E-bikes really only make sense for commuters, “so that they arrive at work less sweaty”.
Only a few of the 35 e-bike testers in Garching should be interested in this suggestion – many of them are already of retirement age. Will there be more people – and especially younger ones – at the second venue? On the approximately 15-minute bus ride from Garching to Oberschleißheim, the few passengers are spared the usual aggressive hum of a diesel engine. The 18-year-old, electrically converted shuttle bus drives much more gently, but rattles just as wildly as a normal bus.
There is a lot more going on at the Volksfestplatz in Oberschleißheim: every few minutes, highly polished electric cars drive up and down the gravel path. The Microlino, an electric city car, is particularly attracting a lot of attention. The tiny white two-seater is a bit reminiscent of a frog with its circular headlights, which also serve as side mirrors. After a somewhat tricky parking maneuver, the test driver only mumbles when he gets out: “I prefer to stay with the bike.”
We continue to a small, white marquee. Around 15 people sit tightly packed here – at least with masks – on three beer benches and eagerly listen to a lecture on sustainability in battery technology. The audience was in their mid-twenties and mid-thirties, although some of them were wearing dark green FFP2 masks with a yellow flower logo and bright green safety vests, which suggest that they belong to the organizers.
“For us as a party, of course, all target groups are interesting,” says Markus Büchler, who sits for the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament. However, the older part of the population is an important target group for the exhibitors. But what about those who neither can nor want to afford an e-bike or e-car? “Nobody tells you how expensive such a vehicle is to maintain,” says Helga Richter, who is there as a visitor. Such cars are also not useful for long journeys. In addition, the few charging stations on Munich’s Viktualienmarkt are always occupied.
Meanwhile, a muffled roar can be heard from the back of the meadow. Two young men are sitting in a BMW i4, an electric sedan that will only be available on the market in November, visibly having fun with the car’s music system. The Greens have at least kept their promise for the day: “Electric mobility you can touch” will of course be offered this Saturday. After all, touching it is free.