The Nissan Land Glider is Blowing in the Wind

A new kind of car has been introduced, a cross between a motorcycle and a car. The Nissan Land Glider is a narrow car on four wheels that leans into the turns. My immediate reaction is that it could be used all winter, and might be as fun as a motorcycle.

The first question is about the leaning mechanism. It could lean like the Piaggio MP3, which has two wheels at the front, but otherwise steers like a two-wheel bike, in that you countersteer, and you need to put your feet down at stops. (Unless you lock the front wheel struts before falling over)

But it seems that this Glider is different to the MP3, it has a computer controlled leaning mechanism. If so, what it is sensing to know how far to lean? Does it sense centrifugal forces through a pendulum? That means it would lean into a turn to keep the pendulum aligned with the cabin, and when stopped, would hold the cab vertical even on a sloped surface, which is nice so you don't need to put your feet down.

Mary Ann asked a good question that I didn't think of and I didn't see in the comments either: How does it react to wind? If guided by pendulum it would try to remain perfectly upright by transferring force to the downwind wheels. Being kind of high and narrow, I would think it could still get blown over in a strong side wind, even with maximum force on the downwind wheels and no weight on the upwind wheels. I think it might need to lean into the wind like a motorcycle, and not try to stay upright.

The advantage of the narrowness is in parking and in wind resistance. It's not quite narrow enough for my driveway, where I am already scraping the car with my saddlebag buckles if I park my car an inch too far to the left. And the left wheels would definitely hit my door steps, whereas the motorcycle can get by.

I would love it to go to Port Dover for the winter Friday the thirteenths. Speaking of which, would it need a motorcycle licence or a car licence? And should I wear a helmet just to be safe when I inevitably flip over? It does apparently have seat belts, and the unspoken rule is "If you have seat belts you don't wear a helmet". I might try to wear both and be doubly safe.

I've seen conflicting accounts of passenger seating - one version says driver only, another says there is a seat for a passenger behind. So apparently two doors for the driver, none for the passenger.

It's supposed to be electric, but I assume that is just political correctness, the shock value here is all about leaning a four-wheeler.