The electric “tuk tuk” piloted by the Pilgreens — a group of French and German students campaigning to show the value of electric vehicles — recently finally made it to the COP21 climate talks in Paris, following a 20,000-kilometer journey from Bangkok.
The journey was actually completed on Saturday (December 5), and was accompanied by a parade through the city that saw the electric tuk tuk joined by a large number of other electric vehicles (EVs).
While this may all sound somewhat strange to those just now learning about it, the journey’s inception makes a fair amount of sense. The Pilgreens first became aware (in person) of conventional tuk tuks while in Bangkok, which got the members thinking about, “what could possibly ease our burden on the environment.” This was followed by the members then bumping into the people behind the Tuk Tuk Factory team — a Dutch manufacturer of electric versions of the vehicle type. What followed can be predicted pretty easily.
The green students decided to take the challenge of driving almost 20,000 kilometers from Bangkok to Toulouse, their home city. They want to show the world that electric power is the way to go. Earlier this year in Bangkok, the Pilgreens embarked on an epic journey halfway across the globe. Their adventurous route took them through Eurasia’s rain forests, deserts and 3800 meter-high mountain passes. Despite the inhospitable terrain the electric Tuk Tuk encountered, no significant technical problems occurred. Karen Koulakian from the Pilgreens says, “We are really happy to see the quality and fun-aspect of the eTuk proven by this fantastic undertaking!”
“We are happy to support the Pilgreens in this great initiative, and we are proud that our eTuk is holding up so well in these extremely harsh conditions. We actually don’t make our vehicles for rally purposes!” stated Roland Vos, Director of Tuk Tuk Factory.
More information on the Pilgreens can be found here.