No6 Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 First we had this. Now this. "The prototype Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) car is one metre wide and less polluting than normal vehicles. It has a top speed of 100 km/h (60mph) and uses a novel tilting chassis to make it safe and manoeuvrable. The traffic-busting two-seater is the result of a 40-month project by researchers in nine European countries. The three-year, £1.5m EU-funded research project aimed to produce a totally different class of private-motor vehicle specifically designed for the urban environment." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4930794.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardrop Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Interesting indeed. Reminds me a little of BMW's C1 "scooter with a roof". I see a couple of problems with this just from the picture - I may be wrong. 1. Visibility - you may be "protected", but you're still below Chelsea Tractor level. 2. Turning circle fine for being sporty, but can see parking/low speed manouvering being worse than a scooter/moped/bicycle. Also I can't see where it would fit in current highway layout/ traffic flows. Wardrop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuberider Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 considering the amount of money and brainpower that went into this i would say it's pretty disappointing Reminds me a little of BMW's C1 "scooter with a roof". exactly, the BMW scooter looks like a much better buy - what more do you gain from owning one of these ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbubb Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 The secret to good fuel economy, and easy parking: SMALL AND LIGHT This vehicle is a good start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FollowTheBear Posted April 26, 2006 Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Only if there was some tax advantage. For that money you can buy a decent second hand supermini. All these attempts to bridge the motorbike / car gap fail because for the same money you could buy a motorbike or, er, car. A good idea still needs a market for it to sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardrop Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Only if there was some tax advantage. For that money you can buy a decent second hand supermini. All these attempts to bridge the motorbike / car gap fail because for the same money you could buy a motorbike or, er, car. A good idea still needs a market for it to sell. Another inbetweener. I think VW are onto a real winner here. The GX3. Not electric. But smallish and light -> fast and bordering economical. And sexy. Please ignore the weather unfriendly practicalities for a second - and nowhere to put the sprogs. Could it maintain a sporty feel as a electric? we'd have to trim that back wheel a bit for a start. Morgans and Messerschmitts spring to mind. Wardrop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbubb Posted May 4, 2006 Report Share Posted May 4, 2006 While not wanting to take people away from GEI, I thought I should mention a website/blog that I recently discovered. Link: http://www.greencarcongress.com/ It is US-oriented, but has some good comments and summaries on the subject of making cars more environmentally friendly, and running them using new technologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malco Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Is it any better than a Smart car? It doesn't look any shorter and it's got a lower point of view. And it still isn't going to beat the basic advantages of a push-bike for shortish urban trips. It looks as if it might be quite good fun, though. The VW is a hark-back to those absolutely marvellous 3-wheeler Morgans. You can buy a kit-car along similar lines. You use a Harley-Davidson motorbike engine between the front wheels. I don't think it is really any bigger than this concept car. Using one wheel to steer and two at the back strikes me as an error, but maybe there is some hidden advantage in the idea. Reliant Robin owners have yet to discover it, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardrop Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Could the italians have the answer? While I love my motorcycle, I don't enjoy the brown trouser moments caused by leaves, drain covers and crossing tramlines in the wet, one of the reasons I am a little against my nearest and dearest getting a scooter for the city traffic. Again, like the GX3, rear wheel at the back to drive the vehicle, but 2 at the front for stability. If the lean mechanism works without too many teething problems, stability and maintenance wise, they could be onto a real winner here. Wardrop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabon Posted October 7, 2006 Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 Could the italians have the answer? While I love my motorcycle, I don't enjoy the brown trouser moments caused by leaves, drain covers and crossing tramlines in the wet, one of the reasons I am a little against my nearest and dearest getting a scooter for the city traffic. Again, like the GX3, rear wheel at the back to drive the vehicle, but 2 at the front for stability. If the lean mechanism works without too many teething problems, stability and maintenance wise, they could be onto a real winner here. Wardrop That would seem to be a start from a combined Motorbike/ Vehicle POV. A bit more stability, although some twonk will still manage to knock 'em over ever five minutes, but an interesting addendum and probably one that will catch on. Onto cars. The problem that a lot of these 'green concept etc' cars have, is that they, at present, don't achieve much better performance than existing petrol 'superminis' (as alluded to by Malco). Example, my Mam has a Nissan Micra 1000cc car. It does an average of 50 mpg (quoted), in reality I reckon it gets a bit more than that. It fits four people comfortably, is small, easy to park and doesn't look like an igloo on casters. Her friend has a Diesel one and that does about 55-60 mpg. My Mam wants to 'upgrade' to a Smart Car (she's wanted one for ages). My first car was a Citroen Diane (like a 2CV but with square headlights etc), it was only 640cc but I could get 80mph out of it(and did on many occassions) and it did an average of about 45-50 mpg (even after a few 80 mile an hour blats), although it didn't like going up hills and mountainsides much. A friend of mine has a G-Whiz electric car and drives it in London for commuting, it's a handy vehicle and is a step in the right direction for low-key urban transport, although it's really a glorified milkfloat, pity they can't invent one that has a gyroscope (or whatever the equivilent is that could power the engine as it's going along by generating power from the wheels going round (minus Friction of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerhunter Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 The Dutch had the answer a few years ago (it was reviewed on Top gear)... The Carver. It looks like brilliant fun to drive... combination of a bike and car, and described as sort of plane which goes along the road. There's a few videos here including jenson button driving one. Here's the Top Gear Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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