Tuk-tuk chase scene from Ong-Bak

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MotoCzysz + Bajaj = dream?

When last we had word of MotoCzysz, the company had just finished a marathon struggle to design, build and race an electric motorcycle at the TTXGP. The epic E1pc was built and shipped to the Isle of Man where it participated in the practice runs but tragically suffered a motor failure at the beginning of the actual race. Fast-forward a few months and things seem to be looking up for the American innovator as word comes of a new relationship with Bajaj, the Indian maker of motorcycles and all things tuk tuk. Sounds like it could be a good match. MotoCzysz comes to the table with good knowledge of electro-mechanical engineering and product design while its new partner has lots of low-cost manufacturing capacity.

The exact type of vehicle they will work on is a bit of a question mark though. Referred to as a “Dream” project, the joint venture aims to produce nothing less than the next-generation automobile.

Full article here

A nice piece on tuk tuks from a billion reasons to visit india blog:

Motoring through crowded streets in auto rickshaws (aka tuk tuks), is my favorite mode of transportation in India. They are loud. They are subject to the wind and rain. They miraculously come within millimeters of pedestrians, cows, scooters, bikes, and other auto rickshaws. And they are fun as hell.

The three-wheeled vehicles are covered but door-less. With a two-stroke engine and handlebar controls, it’s similar to a ride at Disneyland, albeit without the circular track to nowhere. Unlike a sanitized, elevated ride in an air-conditioned four-wheel drive tourist vehicle, tuk tuks are the best mode of transport for a close-up look at daily life. You’ll whiz past vegetable markets and get a whiff of ripe bananas, hear locals haggle over goods, and get a birds eye view of monkey shenanigans on the roadside.

More here

Pic of the week is the Trishaw

Pic taken by Estan Cabigas in Vigan City, Philippines

Flying tuk tuk and some kind of a Maria tune

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Bride takes a tuk-tuk to church:

They are a familiar sight darting in and out of traffic in the colourful chaos of the Indian city Delhi, but not what you might expect to find at a traditional English wedding in rural Norfolk.

Yet bride Emma Willis, from Toftwood, on the edge of Dereham, could not imagine any better way of arriving at All Saints Church, in Mattishall, on her wedding day than in a three-wheeled Indian taxi know as a tuk-tuk.

The high school teacher fell in love with India while working there in 2006 and 2007, and when she started planning her wedding to Jeremy Smith, a 37-year-old patent attorney from Wilby, Northamptonshire, she knew she wanted to include something from India in their special day.

“When I was in India tuk-tuks were my mode of transport. I loved them. I just wanted something significant about India to be part of our wedding day and the tuk-tuk was also a bit of fun,” said the new Mrs Smith, 35, who did charity work with schools just outside Delhi when she first went to India in 2006 and later worked at an international school in Ooty, in Tamil Nadu.

“It was great coming to the church by tuk-tuk. You could feel the wind as we were driving by and it was just like being in India with all the same sounds.”

Full article here

It’s party time for the brits:

The humble auto-rickshaw that is ubiquitous on Indian streets has become increasingly visible in Britain, with Worcestershire becoming the latest county to grant it a licence.

For some years, this cheaper form of transport, better known as the ‘tuk-tuk’, has been in operation in areas such as Brighton town and parts of London.

Its operation, however, has been controversial. 

Taxi owners who had been facing losses due to auto-rickshaws complained about its safety and environment aspects, but recent reports indicate that this form of transport, imported mostly from India, is gaining in popularity.  

Full story here

Last year, Enviu, the innovators in sustainability based in Rotterdam (NL), launched the Hybrid Tuktuk Battle. The challenge was to design a system to make one million auto-rickshaws in India and other developing countries hybrid, in order to improve the living conditions of millions of drivers and their families, and drastically reduce the CO2 emissions. This month the grand prize went to the HAN’ds On Eco Tuk, a Tuktuk with LPG direct injection designed by the students of Hogeschool Arnhem and Nijmegen (HAN).

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Ti-Took, the new web browser for windows from RealWat.

Named after, YES the tuk-tuk vehicles that carry riders anywhere all day long in east Asian cities and towns, Ti-Took is a simple, trustworthy way of navigating the complex and often dangerous world of the internet.

“For the average computer user, web browsers are becoming de facto operating systems. They serve as launch pads and host platforms for applications of all kinds,” says RealWat president David Ker. Cloud computing brings with it problems relating to privacy, site authenticity, content filtering and data integrity. The multiple solutions currently available to address these issues lack the intuitive, catch-all functionality of the Ti-Took platform.

Ti-Took is a downloadable application for Windows users which accesses the web via a dashboard and the question: How do you want to browse the web today? Users then launch one of their current browsers or the high-speed Ti-Took Nuage browser. They can also perform a web search on Google, Yahoo or Bing through the integrated dashboard search box. The Ti-Took Nuage browser is based on Google Chromium open-source code, explains Mr. Ker. We recognize and appreciate how Chromium’s feature-rich robustness benefits Nuage.

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Full article here

The Rickshaw Challenge Mumbai Xpress – 2009 is on this weekend – so we would like to share Hassam, the Tuk Tuk driver message with u:

Good Luck!!!