Naveen Rabelli's tuk-tuk broke down the first time he rolled it out of his garage. The electrical engineer didn't lose heart: now, he plans to drive his customized three-wheeler all the way to London.
Rabelli will leave India next year on a 6,000-mile (9,600-km) odyssey through 10 countries to promote the idea of environmentally friendly travel. His tuk-tuk, or auto rickshaw, is powered entirely by electricity and solar power.
Equipped with a new motor, battery and gearbox, the bright red vehicle - named Tejas, a Sanskrit word meaning splendor or brilliance - now bears little resemblance to the sputtering, diesel-fueled three-wheelers ubiquitous on India's roads.
A tonne when fully loaded, it weighs double a normal auto rickshaw. Its roof is made entirely from solar panels and cloth drapes protect its open sides from the elements.
Eight hours of battery charge will carry the tuk-tuk fewer than 50 miles, while five hours' exposure to the sun will allow Tejas to push on for another 16 miles. That's a lot of recharging stops on the road to London.
The project has already cost Rabelli his life savings of about $6,000. Before he leaves, he needs to raise more cash to reinforce the tuk-tuk's rickety flooring and to buy a lithium-ion battery to replace the old lead-acid power source.
He says, however, that his vehicle is more economical than a typical auto rickshaw: the solar-electric variant can run 100 km on less than a dollar, while a tuk-tuk running on diesel would require about $4 to go the same distance.
Rabelli plans to ride his tuk-tuk from Bangalore to Mumbai, before putting it on a boat to Iran. Picking up the journey on the Persian Gulf, he will ride to Turkey before crossing into Bulgaria and heading across Europe to the French port of Calais.