Final report for "the electric avenue" expo

Pure driving fun: electric vehicles shift into high gear

Friedrichshafen, Germany – The big old-timer show and the premiere of "the electric avenue" - the expo for alternative drives - ended with extremely encouraging results: For four days, a total of 42,000 visitors were treated to a new expo for sustainable mobility and KLASSIKWELT BODENSEE. Testing and trying out - that was the top priority at "the electric avenue" expo. Many visitors took advantage of this unique opportunity to experience how an electrically driven sports car "takes off," to see how an e-bike and an electric scooter accelerates, and to partake in a bit of pure driving fun.

Exhibitors at the premiere of "the electric avenue" expo are convinced that such comprehensive test opportunities will have a positive influence on future purchasing decisions for electrically driven vehicles.

Fascinating new models such as Lampo, Tesla, Citysax, Think, Twike, Vectrix and the EVT Roller were charged up and ready to take for a test drive. Visitors showed a great deal of interest and pleasure in taking a trial run on the test track at the exhibition halls and were impressed with the power produced by an electrical drive. At the test track in exhibition hall A2, visitors could try out pedelecs and e-bikes from companies like Flyer, Ultra Motor, Bikeboard and Derby Cycle.
The spotlight was on the first Porsche with an electrical drive. RUF Automobile produced this unique car, which attracted a huge amount of media interest. Two Swiss companies, Protoscar and BRUSA, showed the "Lampo" and the electro-roadster "Spyder". The Tesla Roadster, the first series-produced sports car with an electrical drive, also caused a sensation. A small electric motorcycle called the ELMOTO provides driving fun on two wheels. The Vectrix VX-1 is the first electrical series-produced high-performance motorcycle that offers all the advantages of conventional internal combustion bikes without all the maintenance, oil changes and filling station stops.

Guido Hannich, Managing Director of the-electric-avenue communications, was the first to summarize the results: "We have only had positive feedback. I have already spoken with a large number of exhibitors. They are all very satisfied and have praised the trade show. We've had a lot of very good conversations with customers who have revealed that many visitors came specifically to see "the electric avenue" expo. The test track is the perfect complementary feature because this is precisely where things really click, for example, there was a woman who now intends to trade in her sports car and has ordered a Tesla. The trade show even exceeded our own expectations."

Norbert Grabotin, Ruf Automobile GmbH: "We are very satisfied with our exhibition here at Friedrichshafen. There is a lot of power behind this because top-notch companies like Tesla stand are backing this theme. The image of electric motors can be appropriately enhanced here. The interest in our 'Greenster' is enormous."

Craig Davis, Sales and Marketing Director Europe for Tesla Motors: "We have opted for this exhibition because we are also newcomers in Europe. We see the timing as ideal because there is an interest in electric mobility. We will continue to support this trade show and we hope that we'll get all exhibitors here that have something to do with electric motors. The location is great and the combination of static and dynamic elements with the test track is ideal. Simply a super concept."

Sven Wedemeyer, Vectrix Deutschland GmbH: "We received very positive feedback at our stand. We were able to establish new business contacts and, at the same time, reach end customers. Our expectations of the expo were fulfilled. The audience here is very knowledgeable and already familiar with the topic."

Hermann Keller, CEO Die Fahrradprofis: The response was very positive and we reached an excellent target group. We'll be on hand again for the second edition of the expo."

"The new expo for sustainable mobility and KLASSIKWELT BODENSEE complement each other exceptionally well," says Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann, who was pleased with the enormous response to both themes. Trade show organizers are convinced that the theme of electric drives will be included again in the next event. Project directors of "the electric avenue" expo say that the link between past and present - between old-timers and new drives - was a success. "On the exhibition grounds we observed a highly interested audience that was just as open-minded about the mobile past as it was about the mobile future," said Roland Bosch, Director of Business Development at Messe Friedrichshafen.

On a total of 80,000 sqm. of exhibition space, the old-timer show offered a diverse and high-quality range of aircraft, ships, cars, tractors and motorcycles. Virtually everything was on display that had written a chapter in the history of mobility. This year's show attracted 380 exhibitors from 10 countries, an increase of 26 percent over the first event in 2008.

Fans and lovers of old-timers have already noted down that next year's KLASSIKWELT BODENSEE will take place from 3 to 6 June, 2010. The expo for sustainable mobility - “the electric avenue” - will also be held as a parallel event on the same dates.