The Carver Amsterdam to Utrecht journey in Winter

Several Carvers are riding around Amsterdam in real life, I shared photos of them in the past when the company contacted me to give the vehicle a try out in the flesh.

The still young spot in Amsterdam-Noord, welectric has a Carver that you can take out for a spin if you’re interested, and you should be!

Yes, even the Microlino is on display here! Will it ever be available to ride? More info.

Back to Carver. Originally not electric, it is now available without fumes, 45km/h powered through the schuko cable exclusively. A full charge can be done in around five hours (adding roughly 21% per hour), and Carver promises a range of 100km. Clearly, that had to be tested in the real world, in winter.

The cord could be longer, surprisingly the Carver comes with more storage space than I expected, bringing your own extension should be easy.

Is it a car?

Well clearly, the answer is no. But. Take a seat and you will find the pedals. Even the whole arrangement around the steering wheel seems very car-esque. In Amsterdam, during the old days mopeds had to use the bike lane. I’m glad those times are over.

The testcase: Amsterdam - Utrecht

A 100km return trip in theory, I am lucky to have a friend over there where I could plan the ride to. It was a cold (but pretty) morning, and I had no way to charge at home. I’d recommend anyone a Type 2->schuko converter and I told welectric they should have one ready in the future.

Heading over to my dad’s place for some power.

Connecting the plug just after 8AM, the charging process indicated 73% in the beginning. 88% around nine (not a full hour had passed). Before ten it was full, time to head out!

It’s about ten kilometers to get out of Amsterdam from where my dad lives, then the good part starts. Riding the Carver is a lot of fun in many ways, possibly one of it’s strongest games is the response of people around you. Thumbs go up a lot!

I’m not using the heating because I have no way of knowing what’d be the influence on range. I’m wearing my summer motorbike gloves and a warm jacket, it’s all good! Also I’m not riding full throttle but instead enjoying my surroundings between 35-40km/h. The pedal has quite some pushback, making it easy to adjust precisely to the speed you’re looking for.

I’m using the soundsystem that’s paired to my phone over bluetooth and creates a vibe I’m not used to on a three wheel machine (when do I ever ride three wheelers anyway?)

What a ride! Crossing the bike bridge in Loenen (completely legal) was one of the highlights of the day. What is very interesting to me about the Carver is that it goes against a lot of standard ideas about EV’s. It’s not crazy silent, it’s also pretty bare for a vehicle supplying a roof.

Then again it has stereo speakers, a (pano) roof, that can come off for fully convertible feel. You can take the windows out completely, which was lovely to do when the sun came out. It’s a bit of everything.

Does it fit two people?

I never expected it to! Nander, one of my tallest friends, had ample space.

Surprise, surprise!

I topped up the Carver during lunch, afterwards we went all around Utrecht. Nander was kind enough to create this video of the Carver carving.

Time for some snacks before heading home again. Curfew is coming! And I want to ride during the sunny hours as much as possible. Back at Nander’s the battery is about 50%, 80km driven today. (Charged some in the morning and during lunch).

Just 1,5 hours and it’s back from 46% up to 76% which should easily get me home. I’m enjoying the throttle and trying out the heating system. The vehicle is a bit like a motorcycle though and in no way airtight, so don’t expect too much.

Oh yeah, bike navigation in the Netherlands can look like this!

Life is a lot of fun in the bikeline. Since the machine in The Netherlands qualifies as a moped, it can get you to places a motorbike or car never could. I really like this freedom of movement. Since you’re not very noisy I also don’t feel bad riding together with the (fast) bikes.

110km done today and still 50% of energy left. I’m liking this!

Thanks Carver and Welectric for an amazing weekend. Can’t wait to take it for a spin in summer.

Range Test Incoming!

As always find the full travel log of the Amsterdam Utrecht Carver trip on Polarsteps.