The alternative vehicle called CLEVER (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) is conceived as a small, three-wheel vehicle with minimal demands on urban space, both in terms of traffic and parking. Furthermore, energy consumption, exhaust and noise emissions are low. CLEVER is funded by the European Commission with the Growth Programme of the Fifth Framework Programme.

The CLEVER project task is to find solutions for the challenge of increasing mobility by developing a new type of a small vehicle, which could be an alternative to traditional cars.

As a result, a vehicle was designed that is classified as a three-wheeler, according to European Union directive 2002/24/EC (class of motorcycles). The main characteristics are:​

• three-wheel vehicle for two occupants with a tilting, enclosed body
• dimensions:​ length 3.0 m;​ width 1.0 m;​ height 1.4 m
• use of a natural gas engine
• energy storage by using specially designed removable gas cylinders

Furthermore, the requirements define that passive safety standards must be comparable to the safety level of conventional cars. In addition, the CLEVER vehicle has to meet all relevant European legal requirements.

In order to meet these requirements, the vehicle’s frame structure must be very stiff and a special restraint system had to be designed. The restraint system consists of state-of-the-art components and specially designed components, which are adapted to CLEVER’s requirements.

This paper includes a description of the CLEVER safety concept, i.e. of the components’ characteristics, as well as information concerning the results generated by the numerical simulation.