Solar tuk tuk tour de Byron Shire

THE future of transport rolled quietly in Byron Bay last week on its round Australia trek.

ON BOARD: From Zero Emissions Byron are Chris Sanderson, chair Vicki Brooke and Christobel Munson with SolarTuk expedition leader Julian O'Shea and expedition photographer Mario Gonzalez. Picture: Christian Morrow

AS PART of its Great Solar Tour, RMIT's solar powered tuk tuk slid silently into Byron Bay last week stopping off on its epic round the world journey to promote sustainable transport and a low carbon future.

The RMIT team has re-engineered a Thai-made tuk tuk into a three-wheeled, solar powered, long-range electric vehicle that will travel from Melbourne to Cairns on a three-week journey hitting speeds of up to 50km/h.

The tuk tuk's visit to Byron was hosted by Zero Emmissions Byron and will travel on its Tour de Byron with local electric bikes and vehicles supporting its mission.

"Sustainable transport is a key component of Zero Emissions Byron's mission to reduce Byron Shire's carbon emissions to zero by 2025 in the areas of transport, land use, energy, waste and buildings,” Zero Emissions Byron Limited chair Vicki Brooke said.

"Anything that supports our goal, such as this three-wheel no-emissions tuk tuk, is a great inspiration.”

The solar tuk tuk is fitted with photovoltaic solar panels and lithium-ion batteries and has an average maximum range of 300km per charge.

Go to www.solartuk.org and www.zerobyron.org.