Clever

The CLEVER (for "Compact Low Emission VEhicle for uRban transport") is a type of tilting three-wheeled car that was developed in a collaboration between the University of Bath, BMW and a number of other partners from across Europe. CLEVER is designed as an alternative to conventional means of personal urban transport. The narrow body endows it with some of the manoeuvrability and congestion avoiding capability of a motorcycle, whilst offering comparable weather and impact protection to a car. Carbon emissions are reduced as a function of low weight and a small frontal area. The narrow track width requires that CLEVER tilts into corners to maintain stability; thus it is fitted with a Direct Tilt Control (DTC) system that uses hydraulic actuators linking the cabin to the non-tilting rear engine module.

CLEVER 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. Construction of the first of five prototype vehicles was completed on Friday, April 21, 2006. Shortly after construction, track testing of a prototype vehicle revealed that, in certain transient situations, the DTC system could not guarantee stability of the vehicle. As of April 2012, research into alternative tilt control strategies for the CLEVER vehicle is still on-going at the University of Bath.