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One drove up in a blue Tesla, the other at least had a blue light on the company car.
At the construction site for Tesla's new battery factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg, two people who couldn't be more different met: Tesla boss Elon Musk and CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet.
Armin Laschet, CDU candidate for chancellor:
»What is the future of the car? Hydrogen or electric? "
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
"Electric in any case, hydrogen is a waste of time - obviously."
On his campaign tour through Germany, which has just begun, Armin Laschet is counting on a meeting with what was at times the richest man in the world near Berlin.
Laschet apparently hopes for better chances at the Chancellery through the proximity to the visionary with the doer image.
Because Musk stands for Tesla and Tesla for innovation, jobs and - depending on who you ask - also for sustainability.
Armin Laschet, CDU candidate for chancellor:
“Thank you Elon for the very impressive visit here at the Gigafactory. That's the future. The future of energy, the future of sustainability. We thank you for this investment in Germany. «
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
“It's a pleasure to be here. (…) The factory is of course still under construction at the moment, but when it is finished it will be beautiful. We want it to be a place that you look at and say: Wow, I want to work here, this place is fantastic. "
Armin Laschet also knows that the industrial location Germany is currently only partially suitable for a pace of innovation a la Musk.
Armin Laschet, CDU candidate for chancellor:
"Thank you again and as I said, we have to speed up our procedures and our bureaucracy and everything that is very slow in Germany."
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
"That would be great. I think there is a basic logic in the notion that if more rules and regulations are added every year at local, state, federal and EU levels, at some point people will no longer be able to do anything at all . So it is important that the regulations are checked regularly to see if they are actually beneficial. "
Environmentalists in particular doubt that the new Tesla Gigafactory will only bring benefits.
The fear: the factory is digging up the groundwater in the region.
Musk also has an answer to that - of course:
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
“This region has so much water. Look around. That is totally wrong. There is water everywhere. Does this seem like a desert to you? That's ridiculous. It rains a lot."
As different as Laschet and Musk appear.
Both are so excited about the mammoth project in Brandenburg.
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
"We feel very welcome and are very happy to be here in Germany."
Armin Laschet takes the opportunity to do some more election campaign ...
“The question is not what Tesla expects from the German government. The Tesla plant will be ready soon. But for us we must also aim to encourage others to settle here, to become faster, to invest, to use Tesla as a role model and to bring more international capital and investments to Germany. "
Musk adds another message to skeptics:
Elon Musk, Managing Director Tesla:
“We have to be enthusiastic about the future. And don't forget to have children, that's important. "