Carver One


Motorcycles and scooters are the ultimate expression of urban mobility, but come with drawbacks. These include a lack of weather and personal protection, the latter even more of a concern with the number of inattentive drivers who pay more attention to their mobile phones instead of focusing on traffic.

Another observation is cars take up an inordinate amount of road space, especially during the urban rush hour. It is a fact that the majority of cars on the road during peak-traffic times are single occupant vehicles, with the resultant issue of parking the vehicle upon arrival.

Recognising this, Dutch engineer A. van den Brink founded Brink Dynamics – today known as Carver Technology – in 1994, to produce his vision of a single-person car with motorcycle technology, or a motorcycle with the benefits and safety protection of a car, depending on how you look at it.


The Carver One was that vision, and was based on the concept of a leaning trike, but with a windscreen and roof that gave the driver/rider full weather protection. Roofed motorcycles are not new, of course, several models being brought to the market with varying degrees of success, including BMW Motorrad’s C 1. What the Carver One does is combine several existing motorcycle, car and engineering concepts into one complete package that caters to both the driver and rider.

Using drive-by-wire, the Carver One has a hub-centre steered front wheel, with no word on what particular power-plant it is using. Self-righting technology is used to keep the Carver One upright at a stand-still, but allows it to lean into corners the same way a motorcycle does.


The heart of the system is the Dynamic Vehicle Control (DVC). This clever piece of engineering tilts the body of the Carver One in response to steering inputs and road speed, rather than reacting to the actual cornering force as it happens.

This allows the Carver One to always be at the “perfect” lean angle as it turns into corners. With better stability than a motorcycle because of its three-wheel design, and the weather and safety protection of a car, the Carver One is designed as the urban transport solution for the individual.

Other Carver designs include the Sunra electric trike for the China market, and the PAL-V One flying-trike prototype, along with design concepts for certain major car manufacturers.