Tuk Tuk Life, with the support of the Norwegian electric vehicle company Infinite Mobility, will attempt to break several world records by driving a solar electric tuk tuk (also known as an auto rickshaw or tricycle) around the world. Here’s a quick summary of the organization attempting the record and the plan:

  • Tuk Tuk Life is a non-for-profit initiative founded by the two South-African adventurists Karl van Zyl and Santie du Toit and aims to promote sustainable mobility.
  • TukTuk Life will travel around the world in a solar electric auto rickshaw.
  • Norwegian technology startup Infinite Mobility will be providing a custom-built vehicle for the journey.
  • The latest technology from within the renewable energy sector will be used to power the auto rickshaw on the 50,000 km journey.
  • The endeavour will see them start in the Philippines and across Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and North America to end in New York City 18 months later.

The solar electric tuk tuk. Photo credit: Infinite Mobility.

In a record-breaking endeavor, Tuk Tuk Life (www.tuktuk.life) with the full technical support of Infinite Mobility (www.infinite-m.com) will travel 50,000km (over 31,o00 miles) around the world to set several new world records for solar electric endurance. As of today, the record is held by Nick Gough and Richard Sears where they achieved a tour of 42,000km (over 26,000 miles) over 16 months.

South African couple Karl van Zyl and Santie du Toit will depart Manila, Philippines, on an 18-month journey as soon as the pandemic situation is resolved enough to permit traveling between the countries. They will drive across Asia, down through Africa, up South, Central, and North America, to finally cross the US to end in Times Square in New York City.

Tuk Tuk Life, together with Infinite Mobility, will set new records in solar electric endurance, as the tuk tuk will rely solely on renewable energy to drive across four continents. Infinite Mobility is committed and brings with it the company’s expertise in developing sustainable mobility and its experience of the technology required to achieve this goal.

“This is a very ambitious project that will push us and our equipment to the limit,” said Karl van Zyl of Tuk Tuk Life. “We need to go beyond the boundaries of sustainable mobility and find new and innovative ways to help people travel in the future. We are excited to partner with the team from Infinite Mobility and we are confident that they will provide us with a reliable and capable vehicle. It will be up to us to go the distance safely.”

“This will be an exciting experience for Infinite,” commented Lupi Love, co-founder and CEO of the Norwegian tech company. He added, “Even though our product is designed for last-mile mobility, its potential goes beyond the urban environment. This adventure will help us collect performance data of our vehicle under this extreme endurance race. The analysis of the data will serve in the design enhancement of the next generation of our product. We are fully supporting Karl and his wife Santie in this adventure.”

All contact details, as well as social media links for Tuk Tuk Life and Infinite Mobility, are available on their websites: https://tuktuk.life/ & www.infinite-m.com

*This press release is supported by Infinite Mobility.

 



 

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