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I’ve wanted one of Carver’s insanely cool tilting trikes ever since seeing them on the BBC’s Top Gear years ago - they use a system called Dynamic Vehicle Control (DVC) which allows for controlled motion up to 45-degrees either direction off centre. The Carver One was the first production machine using the technology, a niche product resembling something like a fighter-plane cockpit or battle helicopter, and I’ve got to say I fell so much in love that when recently changing cars I did some number crunching to see if I could afford one.
Needless to say, I couldn’t: in the UK the Carver One started at £27,650, and though it wasn’t on-sale in the US they were estimating a cost of $45,000 with all the import charges and re-engineering required. Now comes the news that a Californian company called Venture Vehicles have licenced the DVC technology to be used in an upcoming trike called VentureOne.
VentureOne takes the Carver concept and commercialises it, bolting in that current environmentalist’s fetish the Hybrid Drive and boasting over 100mpg despite 100+mph speeds and 0-60 in 6 seconds or less. They’ve obviously changed the body style too, going for more of a futuristic recumbent bike style (or Tron Bike as my friends over at electro^plankton would have it). Best news, however, is the target price when it comes to market in 2008: $18,000 for the base model, rising to $23,000 for an all-electric variant.
Please please please say you’re selling it in the UK, Venture! Seriously, I’d buy one.
VentureOne [via electro^plankton]
We’ll definitely consider selling the vehicle in the UK. It will, however, cost us millions to develop a right-hand drive version. ;)
Fantastic news, Ian! Please make sure I’m top of the list to test-drive it (ahead of all those silly What Car and Top Gear people) :D
Great design folks! I think that is the way to go for many countries where cities are congested with traffic. Too many people are driving around alone in a big truck, SUV, MPV etc.
On the video, it would be good to 1) Remove the silly music 2) have some video of a passenger getting in a out of the car, to illustrate actual usage of it 3) some video of parking etc.
There is only so much wow factor in seeing the car tilt left and right in some scenic highways or spinning around in the dirt road.
Hope this takes off and hey, don’t forget the Asian market! ;)
So tell me. How do I get on the waiting list for the Q100 or Q50? Also, are you planning a convertible version?
make it happen
All the models come equipped with electronic LSD. That has to be worth the price!
hey im sum kid in the us and really want one it looks so tihgt lol =]]]
I live in Mississippi and have a daily commute of over 80 miles to and from work. Needless to say, I’d love on of these. Where do you plan on selling them and when. If this comes in under $20,000 with that mpg, I really want this to be my next commuter. We really need a vehicle like this in the south where travel distance make motorcycles dangerous and current battery-powered only cars impractical. Hell, I might be willing to set up a dealership here just to get your vehicle down here. :-)
Here’s to green in my wallet and in the environment,
Hobbie
I forgot, I agree with snappy on the videos. Wow only goes so far. I’d like to see parking, passengers getting in and out, picking up groceries, and manuevering through traffic. You might think of doing a video blog stunt by having someone travel across country or at least along the California cost; keeping track of mileage, fuel-ups, and costs as you do. You could do a GIS cost spatial analysis based on fuel cost by city/county and do a projected cost with other vehicles based on their mpg ratings–even if they are over rated.
Later,
Hobbie
Forgive the stupidity or whatever..but isn’t the steering in the ‘middle’?!…so whats for converting!
I am totally in love with this car but I wonder how well it will do in snow. My feeling is that it’ll handle as well as a motorcycle, which is….not at all.
I wish I could afford a car that I could put away for the winter but I can’t.
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Ian… appears to have a very dry and witty sense of humor. Think about it.
HOLY HELL!!! i just saw a video about the venture, I WANT ONE!!!…id definatelly consider buying it if i saw it at a dealer. It would be perfect for metro markets, especially like, nyc.
put out needed info. to be able to buy this trike.Iput many tours in viet nam. now i have to keep the off my face also have sell my gl 1500 trike.
How do I purchase one of these in New York / Long Island. I must have one? Q100 preferably.
The interior picture at the top of this article looks awkwardly like the interior of the Mercedes F300 LifeJet that was a concept vehicle that I first fell in love with. My understanding of the VentureOne (and, I want one) is that the steering wheel will be the conventional round wheel and not the airplane style wheel shown above. I would doubt that the above photo is from VentureOne. Also, the shift lever on the right side looks like the one from the LifeJet. Frankly, I prefer the photo items above and would hope that I am mistaken.
I (hopefully) am mistaken in my remarks above. I just reviewed the Web site www . conceptcarz . com and discovered subtle differences in the interior of the photo above and the F300 LifeJet. Very similar, but differences are noticeable. The Web site: http://www.conceptcarz.com/veh.....fault.aspx provides about the best photographs of the F300 Lifejet that I recall. It would appear that the VentureOne is going to be quite similar in production which is, in my opinion, a large plus. Comfort and ergonomic design can enhance both safety and the driving experience. This vehicle is becoming even more intriguing