News from The Western Mail (Wales, UK):
by: Tryst Williams
SCIENTISTS will be hoping a revolutionary 3ft-wide three- wheeled car won't follow in the ill-fated tyre treads of its Welsh-built predecessor, the Sinclair C5.
Almost 20 years after the hapless white buggy first rolled off the production lines at Merthyr Tydfil's Hoover factory, a team of European engineers has resurrected the concept of a small three-wheel urban road vehicle.
Dubbed the Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport), it aims to combine the safety of a car with the manoeuvrability of a motorbike.
The electric C5, with its top speed of just 15mph and no protection from the vagaries of the British climate, quickly became a laughing stock in the UK and production soon halted.
But unlike its ground-breaking predecessor, the Clever will be able to reach 50mph thanks to its gas-powered engine and will be fully enclosed in a metal framework.
Jos Darling, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at Bath University - where the car's hydraulic tilting chassis is being designed - said the car marked a "tremendous leap forward" in the development of vehicles.
"The increase in traffic in our towns and cities means that we have to find a way to make our vehicles smaller," he said.
"The advent of micro cars is a sign of this, but with its manoeuvrability and small width, the Clever is the ultimate in the search for a small vehicle to get around cities.
"The fact that it has a stylish design, can carry a passenger, is not open to the weather and is as high as a conventional car, will mean it will be much more popular with motorists than previous novel city vehicles.
"The fact that it costs less to run, is quieter and is less polluting will also make it popular with environmentalists.
"Its strengthened safety frame makes it very safe for the driver in accidents."
If it goes into production, the Clever will cost about 00 to buy and be more fuel-efficient and less polluting than other vehicles.
Nine European countries are involved in the m EU-funded project. Work started in December 2002 and a proto- type is expected to be built by December 2005.
At just over a metre wide, and with a roof as high as a conventional car, it will be able to accommodate one passenger behind the driver.
Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis, assistant director of the centre for automotive industry research at Cardiff Business School, said, "I've looked at a number of similar concepts recently and I think if you aim it at specific enthusiasts - a market that could be created - you will be all right.
"But as a competitor in the city car segment I think it's risky, especially when at 00 it would be the same price as a Smart car - which is a bit funky but not radical enough to put people off.
"My concern is in trying to be a cross between a car and a motorbike, you'll have to behave like a car driver and you won't be able to weave in and out of traffic."
But he added that the height of the vehicle and its power meant it would not share two of the Sinclair C5's biggest failings.
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