http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Two-Men-To-Ride-From-Kerala-to-UK-on-an-Auto/2015/06/12/article2862181.ece Two Men To Ride From Kerala to UK on an Auto By Anoop Menon 12th June 2015
[images http://media.newindianexpress.com/rickshaw-1.jpg/2015/06/12/article2862178.ece/alternates/w620/rickshaw%201.jpg (Solar etuk) http://media.newindianexpress.com/rickshaw.jpg/2015/06/12/article2862180.ece/binary/original/rickshaw.jpg (Rabelli and Kopacka) ] ENFIELDS, Land Rovers and Jeeps. These are the vehicles that most Indians think of first, when planning a long road trip. But Naveen Rabelli, is not your average Indian travel enthusiast. On June 18, he will embark on an epic 10,000 km road trip — from Kochi to London — across 10 countries on a zero-emission, hand-made, solar powered auto rickshaw. He’s joined by an Austrian documentary filmmaker, Raoul Kopacka and together, they plan to showcase a sustainable, low-cost alternative transport solution, to connect with fellow environmentalists along the way and record air-pollution levels in different countries. Engineer turned ecologist “Big ideas, start small,” begins 33-year-old Rabelli, an automotive electronics engineer and staunch believer in spreading the word about sustainable energy solutions, elaborating, “I had to travel over 500 kms every week, while working in Melbourne (Australia) with Lumen (an automotive products design and manufacturing company) and I knew that there must be a more eco-friendly way to go about it. It was eating away at me,” he claims. Eventually, Rabelli decided to take a break from work and travel from Melbourne to London via South East Asian countries and India. “India was just supposed to be a quick stop, as I had to attend a wedding—but then I ended up staying here for four years,” he laughs. While in India, Hyderabad-based Rabelli gained a deeper understanding of solar-electric sustainable solutions. He worked with the team at Mahindra, who created India’s first automatic electric car ‘Reva’. He also lent a helping hand to create eco-friendly solutions via utilities like solar powered water-pumps for Protovillage (a rural community in Andhra Pradesh that enjoys ecological sustainability). Later that year, during a conversation with a friend about continuing his journey to London — while they were stuck in traffic surrounded by noisy and smoke-spewing autos — Rabelli’s ‘small idea’ took root. Making of Tejas Since then, he quit his job and spent his entire life savings of `4 lakhs trying to create his solar-electric hybrid rickshaw named Tejas, after the Sanskrit word for radiance. “With sponsorship from our crowd-funding initiative, Symed Labs (Hyderabad), Cumberland Plastic Center (USA) and Telangana Tourism, the modifications needed were finally possible,” shares Rabelli, continuing, “I was determined to carry on and continued building a hybrid 13 kilo-watt engine prototype with Lithium-Ion batteries and six solar panels (on its roof and as foldable panels on its side), out of what was originally a second-hand, three-wheeled Piaggio Ape with a diesel guzzling engine,” he smiles. Rabelli also intends to provide information (for free) to the world about converting their fuel-based vehicles into electric ones (via their data acquisition system). The system relays the vehicle’s information to a server in Hyderabad (which tracks them through an-onboard GPS device). The first one-and-a-half years were the toughest, he explains. Everyone who had joined him to help, quit — as there were no quick results. He’d almost given up looking for a suitable team-mate. That was when he received an email from an Austrian, who had a few compelling reasons to join him on his epic journey. The pillion rider Documentary filmmaker, Raoul Kopacka, heard about Rabelli’s intiative through a sustainable-energy internet discussion board, as he was looking for projects to partake in—after his graduation in global studies and anthropology. His interest in the road trip, that Tejas is about to embark on, is two-fold. The first being his continued portrayal of environmental issues and human endurance in his films. “Ever since my dad told my twin brother (Kevin) and me about how he drove a Volkswagen Bus from Austria to Sri Lanka (in 1975) and met our Mom (a Sri Lankan) — I wanted to do a Eurasian journey too. But I don’t want to pollute the planet just to fulfill my wish of travelling and filming, so Naveen’s solar tuk tuk seemed like a great idea for my next documentary,” shares 27-year-old Kopacka. Through this film, the young Austrian anthropologist is keen on meeting people from different cultures—who are trying to do their bit to make the planet greener and create an awareness of alternative mobility solutions for passenger vehicles in Asian and European countries using renewable energy. Now (after he received an e-hat tip from fellow Austrian, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who read about them on Twitter) Kopacka is not just behind the camera — he’s as involved in the mission as Rabelli and doesn’t mind getting his hands greasy. Kerala connect Though their journey will receive a flag-off at Hyderabad (as Telangana tourism is one of their primary sponsors) — the team will begin their journey in Kochi. “We travelled here to work with the folks who run Kalapuraparambil Automobiles. They specialise in luxury caravan interiors and worked on vehicles for famous personalities, including actor Mohanlal. We wanted to turn our vehicles load area into a travel-friendly and comfortable space,” explains Rabelli. The garage will also work on the exterior, provide Kerala-style mural paintings that will reflect the story of Tejas and capture the attention of global audiences. There will be foldable beds, push-back seats and cupboards. The drive from Kochi to Bengaluru will be of utmost importance to the duo, as it will be the first real long-distance road test for their hybrid vehicle. They have also taken inputs from seasoned Kochi-based traveller Suresh Joseph (who drove through 27 countries on a road-trip with director Lal Jose). The expedition “One of the most crucial aspects of this eco-friendly journey is the availability of recharging points,” explains Rabelli. Team Tejas plans to travel approximately 100 kms each day — as their electric motor would give them a mileage of almost 70-80 km/day plus an additional 30 kms via solar power (recharge time: four hours). Though Tejas has a top speed of about 75 km/hr, they hope to average at 45 km/hr. Rabelli will take his hybrid to Iran (via ferry from Mumbai) then continue to UK via Turkey and Europe. Since Kopacka and Rabelli have an Austrian and an Australian passport (citizenship gained from working there for almost six years), respectively, they will receive visa on arrival at all 10 countries. To help with the carnet de passage (vehicular visa from Mumbai’s Western India Automobile Association), they turned to the third (silent) member of team Tejas. Sanketh Kumar, an engineer, who helped them in designing and building the prototype. “He’s the third wheel that moves this three-wheeler ahead,” laughs Kopacka. Clearly, the young environmentalists deeply believe that this little Indian-made three wheeler will make a big difference, and we can’t help but cheer them on. Details: fac ebook.com/ProjectTejas [© newindianexpress.com] ... https://www.google.com/maps/search/Kochi,+India+to+London,+UK/data=!4m2!2m1!4b1?dg=dbrw&newdg=1 (route map) Kochi, India to London, UK [dated] http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-EV-Engineer-s-6k-mi-UK-Trip-in-a-3-Wheel-Solar-Tuk-Tuk-video-tp4670551.html EVLN: EV Engineer's 6k-mi UK Trip in a 3-Wheel Solar-Tuk-Tuk (video) ... After going through the list of applicants, Rabelli has selected 26-year-old Raoul Kopacka from Austria for this purpose because Kopacka would be able to lie down in the back of the environmentally friendly auto-rickshaw with his legs stretched. Both of them plan to sleep on... 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