Wow, time flies when you’re having fun!
emissionless.ch: 10 years of
- blogging
- fun
- keeping track of adventures
- documenting how life with one of the world’s most efficient vehicles is like
- being a go-to resource for TWIKE owners and would-be owners
- tips for every-day use and care
- being the go-tp address for people who’ve seen TW560 on the road somewhere far away and want to know more about the weird little spaceship they’ve just seen
How did everything get started?
By me discovering that traveling with a TWIKE was possible and enjoyable! …and this began even before I had purchased TW560!
My first TWIKE trip was 2007 aboard TW077 – a 3-NiCd-pack first-series TWIKE which had a range of about 35-40 km with summer temperatures. With this TWIKE I drove all the way to Berne, across the glorious Emmental hills, back to Lucerne, Zurich and home in one weekend. The trips in those days consisted of driving an hour and charging an hour. No commercial charging stations were available then – everything was based on committed people and some visionaries. Huge fun – meeting lots and lots of new people whilst traveling.
One year later, I purchased TW560 after being convinced that this was the mode of transport for me.
Writing about TWIKE-related trips with TW560 started even before emissionless.ch was up. The first trip I wrote about was 2010 when I took TW560 all the way to Italy and back.
Even back then, I was already dabbling with the nascent Google Maps! Back in those days, I had much more time – every charge, every hotel was honoured with a marker and some notes.
The second trip in 2010 was to Denmark and back – this trip, too, was recorded by writing a document and distributing it via the TWIKEKlub website instead of an own blog…until I was asked if I wanted to take part in an e-Rally across India, taking my TWIKE much, much further than the most TWIKEs!
Part of the requirements was to have a team blog – which got me thinking… why not take this much further than just registering a third level domain for the duration of the rally?
With this I started my search for relevant domain names which would convey what I’m really trying to achieve with my TWIKE – sustainable mobility…sustainable emissionless mobility.
Whilst emissionless.com was no longer available, I was happy to be able to get both emissionless.ch and the German equivalent emissionslos.ch – together with emissionsfrei.ch and a number of other interesting domains. emissionsfrei.ch I later on sold to a Swiss logistics company promoting an emissionless urban distribution setup.
Then, finally, September 1, 2011, I posted my ‘hello world‘
…and the rest is history!
As per today, emissionless.ch consists of:
Total blog entries 357
Published blog entries 332
Sticky entries 1
…and
Drafts 25
Due to me being very busy, there are still 25 entries waiting to be finalized or published – the list of pending entries can be found here. Two full TWIKE adventures await your reading! I am planning to publish all of them until the end of 2021! Happy reading.
Most of my entries are about the TWIKE – my plan to use this blog to write about sustainability in general was thwarted by the fact that I like my jobs and give them 100%…which leads to me being less able to take time to blog about other EV’s or go to exhibitions or simply write about EV-related stuff I get to see.
Emissionless.ch is about TW560 and TWIKEs in general. My focus will remain to make this blog a relevant resource for any pilot (and would-be pilot) out there interested in traveling, servicing (including parts that get very rarely taken apart by pilots), adapting to modern regulations and actually finishing the project plus telemetry, how to choose a new battery pack for a TWIKE and how to update the software of a DFC3, repairing LCD issues (…and the LCD backlight), getting a TWIKE to boot again, repairing ‘lost recuperation’ by fixing the recuperation button …and – if all fails – diving deep into the inverter. Last but not least – I include some instructions on how to create the fastest-charging TWIKE worldwide.
What is in store for emissionless.ch in the future? I will continue to document my various trips and provide even more entries on TWIKE history and how to keep such a vehicle going.
Also, after 10 years, it is time for a mobile-responsive theme and some other updates – stay tuned.
Above all: thank you for reading my blog! – I’m always happy to hear from my readers! -> use the ask me anything link above.