saturday morning about 35 TWIKEs converged towards a nature reserve lodge near flaach in northern switzerland for the twike club yearly general assembly. our agenda was pretty simple visit the “thurauen” nature reserve eat lunch general assembly my presentation on our participation at WAVE india eat fresh asparagus at a nearby asparagus farm (yum!) first we headed out to the nature reserve with some rangers and were shown some interesting plants and animals which have chosen this rather beatiful spot to be their habitat. i really appreciated the opportunity and will certainly be back with my kids for some more […]
planning our next adventure > TDE2012
jc and i have started planning our next adventure. we’ve been travelling with the TWIKE for about 7-8 days once every year for the last 4 years. last year, besides travelling to india for 3 weeks, we took the TWIKE to denmark for a 1900km roundtrip. this year, we’re going to test JC’s TW231 in very hot environments and try to combine this with crossing a major mountain range: we’re taking TW231 from northern switzerland to southern spain. our current plan is to draw a straight line from southern spain to andorra and from there to glattfelden, our starting point, […]
next WAVE presentation: 14apr12
quick update: i have been alotted a 2 hour slot for a WAVE INDIA presentation at the TWIKE club general assembly on 14apr12. this will give me the opportunity to go into much more detail than during the last few presentations. anyone interested in being there and participating please get in touch with me.
Geneva auto show 2012 – some got it, some not
i’ve been visiting this show for the last 7 years – i expected after all the hype 2011 to see electic cars center stage. i expected cars ready to be ordered or at least to be able to be on a waiting list. only 2 car makers were able to really deliver on this exepectation: renault and tesla all other major brands center staged their even more powerful models (plus maybe a hybrid / one electric model at the far end of the booth or a prototype to be released someday) i was extremely impressed by renault’s enormous booth – […]
Home, at last!
after 3 months, TW560 returns home! everyone is happy to see the TWIKE again – neighbours who followed the blog gather around and want to see if it still looks the same 🙂 we settle back into the normal usage pattern, my wife loves the TWIKE and how easy it is to drive and park – every day i’m off to austria or on weekends when she goes to school the TWIKE is her companion. myself, i enjoy every meter driving – as usual. not everything is 100% ok, though. currently, the TWIKE consumes about 15-20% more energy with me […]
last stop before home
sunday, after a full day skiing in austria, i travel to sissach with my youngest daughter to pick up the TWIKE. a brilliant but freezing cold day @ -15°C -> we find the twike fully charged and ready in front of dreifels’ offices. with some serious winter gear TWIKEing in winter can be fun, too – we’re ready! our route will take us through some very rural parts of northwestern switzerland, we then cross into germany to finally cross back into switzerland close to the beautiful rhine falls to then conclude our 105kms trip (with a small detour to drink […]
mmm…TLC, TW560 feeling better now!
after just 3 days at dreifels’ workshop, TW560 emerges feeling much better and refreshed 🙂 no major problems were discovered by ralph schnyder (creator of TWIKE in 1986, middle) apart of the travel-related ones which already had emerged during the wave. (even the shock absorbers seem to be ok!!) equipped with the newest software version and a dump of all controller data for the duration of the WAVE, TW560 is looking forward to the next step in its rehabilitation for swiss roads: deep cleansing (inside and outside) at the TWIKE workshop i usually bring my TWIKE to. a quick check of […]
first WAVE presentation
4feb12 the twike-club had one of its three annual meetings in churwalden, switzerland. traditionally, at this churwalden meeting we gather to have some fun during the day, build up some hunger and then converge onto a converted stable in a 400 yr old building where we eat a fondue, a typical swiss dish in a very rustical and authentic environment. this year, jc and myself chose to drive there with TW231 despite the very low temperatures of -15°C during the day. jc is very proud to have upgraded his TWIKE to the same technical level as TW560 except for the GSM connectivity […]
TW560 back in Switzerland
last friday, jc flew to bremen to oversee the TWIKE being released from our container. he arrived just in time to see the TWIKE being unloaded with all the other cars. since walti will be arriving in about 2 days, jc was asked to plug in the twingo, in order for it to be ready for pick up. the drive from bremen to hamburg was uneventful but very, very cold. jc endured -18°C, which in the TWIKE equals to -18°C interior temperature. during the charge the cold seems to have gotten to the TWIKE computer at last – the display […]
TWIKE arrives in Bremerhafen
a quick update: the TWIKE has arrived in bremerhaven. it will wait in freezing temperatures until jean-claude arrives this friday to collect it. he will then proceed to hamburg where the TWIKE will then be transported by train to lörrach. just a short drive across the border from there, TW560 will receive the required TLC by ralph schnyder and his team at dreifels in sissach. why dreifels? dreifels has offered me to repair the TWIKE free of charge – thank you very, very much, guys! i can not imagine TW560 being in better hands than ralph’s > he, after all, in 1986, […]