The doors of Eurobike in Friedrichshafen are now definitely closed. Just under 30 years of moaning about traffic jams to and from the fair, shortage of accommodation, overloaded Wi-Fi, too many sports bikes, too little sustainable mobility, a fair that for many participating parents coincided with the first day of school, … This year, every evening after the fair not hindered by any traffic jams, we drove to our terrace on the banks of the lake. As the sun set in an unparalleled panorama of mountains and water, we mused on our long history with Friedrichshafen and how, after all, we would miss it.

At the show, we haven’t met many people who really thought the move to Frankfurt was a great idea. And no-one, including us, was happy about the new date.

The main question, however, is what the Frankfurter Eurobike exhibition concept will look like. One major minus of Eurobike has always been the fact that the fair lagged too much behind the facts. Unfortunately, they continued to do so this year under the slogan “we have bikes, not cars”. A clear sneer at IAA Mobility, the fair in Munich, which is adding a significant chunk of light, electric mobility to its core concept this week.

If Eurobike continues to cling to its “pure-bike concept” next year, there’s a good chance it will lose. There are too many light electric vehicle companies looking for a suitable and contemporary annual network platform. Whoever embraces all forms of light, electric mobility will win.

As usual, LEVA-EU was present at Eurobike with a stand and information meetings. And that participation was a great success. Our agenda was fully booked with appointments with companies looking for further information about the LEV-market and a network that aligns with their activities. This week we will be visiting IAA Mobility to get a better understanding of ​​what would be the best platform for us and our members. In the meantime, perhaps Eurobike should consider a name change for 2022, something that includes the term “Light Mobility” instead of “Bike”.