CLEVER
Encyclopedia
The CLEVER is a type of tilting three-wheeled car
Tilting three wheeler
A tilting three wheeler is a three wheeled vehicle whose body and or wheels tilt in the direction of the turn. Such vehicles can corner safely even with a narrow track.-Wheel configurations:...

 that was developed at the University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....

. It is intended to fill a niche between true cars and motorcycles, retaining improved manoeuvrability in urban areas but without exposing the driver to the elements.

It measures only 1 m wide and has a maximum speed of approximately 50 mph. It runs on compressed natural gas, achieving a predicted 188 miles per gallon fuel efficiency. Its construction was completed Friday, April 21st, 2006 and is expected to be produced by automobile manufacturer BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

. According to Phillip James of Tilting Vehicle Australia, after testing BMW determined that the Clever control system developed by the University of BATH was unsafe and expressed an interest in licensing technology from Carver Europe
Carver (automobile)
The Carver is a tilting three wheeled vehicle using an automatic balancing technology to balance the passenger compartment under all conditions. The first commercial Carver product, the Carver One, was designed to seat two people, and manufactured and distributed by Carver Europe in the Netherlands...

.
As of August 2011, research into alternative tilt control strategies for the CLEVER vehicle is still on-going at the University of Bath.

Safety

In crash tests conducted, it received a USNCAP 3-star safety rating (at 56 km/h).

The head and chest stresses on the driver were very good, and the head stresses on the passenger were also acceptable as a result of the energy-absorbing foam on the driver’s backrest.

The intrusion in the driver’s footwell was very low and posed no threat to the driver’s extremities. The vehicle cell suffered deformation in the forecast area, the driver’s door could be opened without any problems after the crash. The front wheel swinging arm collapsed and came loose because, to save time and money, a welded aluminium construction was used rather than a cast construction. This problem will not occur on the standard solution.

External links

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