racing TW4 at e-mobility world in friedrichshafen

every year, friedrichshafen hosts a large gathering of rare and old cars at the local exposition halls. a remarkable collection it is, but one part is reserved for alternative and electric propulsion cars. this part is called e-mobility world. this year fine mobile, the TWIKE manufacturer decided to take part and have a large presence there. all TWIKE pilots were invited including access to the halls with their own vehicles. i drove the 100 kms to friedrichshafen in one charge. a very nice drive given the wonderful weather. lake constance, nestled between germany, austria and switzerland is a very nice […]

WAVE 2011 – press clippings

i know it’s been a while since WAVE 2011 in india, but i recently stumbled across a selection of news clippings which i thought would be interesting to anyone who had followed our blog in the past. interestingly, most clips feature the TWIKE with either me or jc… click the images for higher resolution versions. enjoy!

visiting fine mobile, the TWIKE manufacturer

after a good nights’ sleep, i rise refreshed from yesterday’s marathon drive across germany. i have a nice balcony on which i enjoy my breakfast, looking down on rosenthal. breakfast over, i head to fine’s HQ… after chatting with some employees, i head for lunch with fine’s ceo, martin möscheid, his brother and the first official twike2fly (in german) partner from morocco, silvia brutschin (a.k.a. twikezora). after lunch, martin möscheid took some time to explain the history of how TWIKE production was transferred to fine mobile after swisslem went out of business. he filled in many blanks i had and […]

halfway through germany in one day

faster than expected the day has come to drive to rosenthal. i’m really looking forward to meeting the guys at fine mobile. some last minute changes to the route and a decision to add a quick 30 minute charge in wurmlingen and the usual preparations regarding my travel cabling kit. so, here i am, 4:40am. TW560 is fully charged, about 14°C and a sliver of dawn forming on the horizon. although i am used to long-distance >450kms day-long drives on our tours, we seldomly go over 300kms/day. View > rosenthal in a larger map above is the route i will […]

under the hood #2: water + batteries > combine at your own risk!

i’ve had problems charging the TWIKE recently. after driving in wet conditions, charging led to FI failures. i was, however, always able to charge using the two external onboard chargers i added to TW560 for fast charging. charging on normal fuses was no problem and since i normally charge the TWIKE during the night on a 6A non-FI secured line, it took some time to discover the problem… the problem had to be with the internal charger and internal electronics. thomas from moeckli elektrofahrzeuge agreed to have a look and this blog entry documents what we found… TW560 was one […]

TW560@TWIKE HQ > visiting fine mobile

since i’ve got much more time on my hands nowadays, i’ve arranged to visit fine mobile, the TWIKE manufacturer june 6-7, 2013. for months now, fine’s marketing department and i have been corresponding on what can be communicated on new developments, options for current TWIKE models and so forth. i felt that i was necessary to see for myself how TWIKE’s are assembled and what status TWIKE 5 has and maybe get a rare glimpse into the design process of this new vehicle. first and foremost, this visit will be for me personally. however, since i am also vice-president of […]