JUN 20

Coming in slightly wider than the Lumeneo, but still an ultra tiny 3.3 feet wide and 10 ft long, the CLEVER is a three-wheeled zoomy little low emissions car that could make its way to the street…maybe…possibly…who really knows. But the prototype is here!

CLEVER is an acronym for Compact Low Emissions Vehicle for Urban Transport, and the design came from the Technical University of Berlin. The car is a sinle sylinder 230cc compressed natural gas engine that can go 62 mph for about 125 miles, while spitting out less than 60 g/km of CO2. Yes, that’s less than the Prius’ 104 g/km, but look at the size difference in the car – the lower emissions is kinda expected. They’ve also crash tested it with some pretty good safety results. But why three wheels?

Well, it is possibly because the developers wanted to be cool by sticking with the 100+ year history of three-wheelers. But more likely, three wheels would allow them to stick closer to their goals of producing a light-weight, small two-seater with low emissions. And like the Lumeneo, it is designed to tilt around corners, rather than turn, similar to a motorcycle.

But whether or not it will be a reality for consumers is still up in the air.

Via GreenUpgrader

Comments (21)

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written by Space, June 20, 2008

it looks exactly like the Carver that was tested by Top Gear a long time ago:
http://www.carver-worldwide.co....asp?nc=1

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written by Clinch, June 20, 2008

I can't see these things replacing cars, as they don't have the space that most people want (for other people, or shopping), and also don't look like they have the agility/nippiness of a motorbike.

Nice concept, but I can't really see these being successful in the real world.

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Acronym
written by Geek, June 21, 2008

"CLEVER is an acronym for Compact Low Emissions Vehicle for Urban Transport"

Oh really? In what language?

I got CLEVUT.

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Carver much??
written by mike, June 21, 2008

Looks identical to the Carver. While a cool idea, and I really want one, I couldn't see myself getting one, I'm a fairly tall man (6ft. or a bit less then 2 meters for our foreign friends)and I just don't see all of these small vehicles being developed with a taller audience in mind. Very disappointing, as I really want one of these!!

Seems to me these are more of a niche-market than anything, I like being able to roll around with an entourage...

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Three wheels
written by Vernard, June 21, 2008

Three wheels make it a motorcycle under U.S. DOT regulations (and elsewhere). That sharply reduces the manufacturer's burden regarding crash tests and occupant safety.

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Don't we need more bicycles instead?
written by Val, June 21, 2008

Isn't this the way to go? Cycle about on a bike with a cargo box for moving stuff about? See www.copenhagenize.com for inspirational cycling stuff.

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Great for Los Angeles and NY
written by The Food Monster, June 21, 2008

http://thefoodmonsterblog.blogspot.com
I think this, along with other bikes, and three wheelers, and super-uber compact cars are going to be great for cities like Los Angeles, and New York. Actually, it may hurt New York by putting more drivers on the road. However, still more fuel efficient when you don't need to carry anything. I can see the upper-middle class having one of these and an SUV or Station Wagon in order to make trips with goods or people.

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Great if you don't care what others thin
written by Green Gadgets, June 21, 2008

It's kinda cool, and kinda not cool. I don't think I'd want to drive one of those, as it simply doesn't have any practical feel to it.

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written by DaddyO, June 21, 2008

As mentioned before it does look like the Carver. Here is a video from the BBC program about the Carver.
http://tinyurl.com/4xd6sp Ther...is here.
http://www.flytheroad.com/
BTW Mike one of the guys from Top Gear is well over six feet and didn't have any problems fitting in the Carver.

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written by DaddyO, June 21, 2008

I don't know why but the middle of my previous post was cut out. What I said was they are working on a U.S. model based on the Carver called the Venture One with a all electric version with a 120 mile range and a hybrid that gets 100mpg and goes 100mph. http://www.flytheroad.com/

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written by Clinch, June 21, 2008

After watching the TopGear clip, it seems that the tilt-action is a bit impractical, because if you've got some shopping or papers in the back, they're going to spill all over the place, and if you're frail, or feeling ill, the tilting could cause problems. The tilting also looks like a lot of fun, which in itself could cause problems, with people swerving about in the road.

And these are essentially one person vehicles, so taking in to account car-sharing, they are worse than a Prius (i.e. 2 people in 2 CLEVER's [120-CO2] or 2 people in one Prius [104-CO2], [or even 4 people, 240 vs 104-CO2]).

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Exactly what I want
written by Dillenger69, June 21, 2008

This is exactly what I want.
The size and mileage of a motorcycle and the enclosed cabin of a car.
Seattle is horrible for motorcycles since the weather changes so frequently.
I want to be able to commute in air conditioned, dry comfort on my own schedule.
Something like this seems to be my best bet until they get their act together and get some rails on the east side 405 corridor here.

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Motorcycle
written by Clinch, June 22, 2008

I was going to say that replacing you motorbike with one of these would be bad for the environment, because motorbikes (being smaller) would produce less emissions than this.
But after seeing the 'Monotracer' (an encapsulated motorbike) and it's 85-CO2, it looks like I was wrong.
And I expect the streamlined cabin lowers wind resistance, compared to that of a motorbike.

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written by fhmsupersexybodies, June 22, 2008

hey, that three-wheeled car is great! but can it be safely driven on super highways????

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is it really safe?
written by fhmsupersexybodieshttp://supersexybodies.blogsome.com, June 22, 2008

i hope its safe!

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probably
written by Clinch, June 22, 2008

It's safer than a motorcycle, so if they can be driven on highways, then so can these.

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Good...but
written by Mark Kiernan, June 22, 2008

it isn't electric, so it will be a hard sell. Don't know why they didn't make an electric version.

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written by Bob Wallace, June 23, 2008

If you check their web site you will find some crash test info.

Probably safe enough for city driving if you drive defensively.

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written by Cage, June 23, 2008

These types of vehicles would be great for those who only need a motorcycle but want something enclosed, safer and easier to drive. Also as a second car its perfect cause most of the time people drive around with noone else in the car. I want the plug in hybrid Carver.

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written by Hoot61, June 24, 2008

They need to widen the wheel base in the rear so I don't roll it. Otherwise I love it.

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Probably wont roll
written by Clinch, June 25, 2008

If it's like the Carver (see the the video clips DaddyO linked to) then the small wheel base width wont be a problem, as the front tilts round corners, while the back remains stable.

But if it's not like a Carver in that respect, well, just get a Carver instead then.

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