Phillip James is a creative inventor from the East Coast of Australia. As an admirer of the three wheeler Carver concept, he devoted his time to develop a similar vehicle and to bring his concept to reality.

The result of his efforts is the Commuter Tilting Vehicle Concept. Phillip describes his creation as a vehicle "less than a meter wide but with absolute stability due to inclination of its mass (like a motorcycle) and yet as easy to drive as a car, with identical driver inputs... easy to park and fuel efficient.. and great fun!".

The idea behind the concept

The 1,30 meters wide Carver Concept was one
of Phillip's inspirations

The idea behind the Commuter is the unique tilting chassis, patented by his inventor (Application WO2005/075278).

"The vehicle is FTC (free to castor) which means that the front wheels are fundamentally free from any mechanical restraint (above about 15mph)." explains Phillip James.

"A castoring wheel at speed when tilted becomes dynamically locked into a steer position as surely as the earth is locked to the sun. This means that if you tilt the vehicle the front wheel will go to a steer angle which will automatically produce a curved path suitable for the tilt angle AND the speed of the vehicle. This understanding when fully appreciated is a major breakthrough in tilting vehicle design. Of course there are many other important design features required to make the vehicle work [...] but that is the simple version".

Now the inventor is looking for investors to further develop his project. His website presents his work with some very explicative videos, technical notes and link to the original Patent Application.

Some videos of the Commuter Concept in action: Medium Speed Clip and In the Dirt Clip (.WMV format)

These videos show a functional prototype, as the final model will be different and capable of transporting two passengers.

Phillip is also ready to invite interested parties to drive the vehicle in his testing facility.

"My approach has always been to focus on the fundamentals. It has been clear to me for decades that a more efficient form of commuter vehicle was possible, by combining a motorcycle style of vehicle with a simple steer motor car style of driver input.

The Commuter concept is still without an external body: its frame and chassis can be covered with many different styles of external panels.

"While others were taking the easy way out, I always insisted that without narrow width and simple steer there would be little commercial value, because the target market is people who drive motorcars in cities with one or at most two people aboard.

"Recent increasing congestion of our cities and a renewed focus on efficient energy use prompted me to put my knowledge into action. I am the best that there is in this field and I have a track record which proves it. I say this without hesitation - anyone who takes me on will get someone who is focused on technical matters, because quite simply, you need to have the technical aspects sorted first.

Technical drawings from James' patent

"There's plenty of people out there promoting nothing more than wishful thinking, I have the proof. I have a simple steer narrow tilter.. proved to work, and I back this up with video clips, a Patent and an invitation to anyone to test drive my prototype."

Phillip James

(Source: www.tiltingvehicle.com)