Strolling through the old town section of Bern this morning, we happened upon this lone, Swiss-built Twike parked along the Munsterplatz. Switzerland is apparently home to hundreds of Twikes, a combination EV car and self-propelled (read: Toblerone fueled) eco-ride, employing an electic motor and system of nickel metal hydride (NiMh) batteries, supplemented by pedal power.
Introduced in 1986, the Twike is no slapdash offering — it's got high-tech driveline capabilities like regenerative braking and cruise control. It's even possible this very Twike was in the Twike Challenge, a 6,800 mile loop through Scandinavia and the former Soviet Union, of which Bern was the starting point, held in 1998.
More on the Twike:
Vermonter discovers the joy of human-hybrid vehicles [EV World]
TWIKE Drivers Association Website [Twike Klub]
Related:
More alternative-energy vehicles [internal]