Gordon Murray has launched what he claims is the world’s most efficient Electric Car, citing comparison with the MINI-E, Smart EV and Mitsubishi iMiEV. At an event held at the RAC in Pall Mall, London, the former Brabham F1 designer who is better known for his work in creating the McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supercars, introduced his new T27 city-car.
The T27 which has been developed from a clean sheet of paper to a running prototype in just 17 months, contains numerous innovations including a completely new electric powertrain by Zytek Automotive Ltd and the newly patented manufacturing technology, iStream®, which achieves new levels of lightweight structure and safety in city cars.
“Lightweight is the most powerful tool we have in our armoury in the fight against emissions and fuel consumption”, said Murray, “this is true of all cars and especially so with electric vehicles! A lightweight car means a lightweight battery increasing the levels of safety and reducing the retail price dramatically. The T.27 represents a huge step forward in protecting our mobility and our environment.”
The real world performance of T.27, if it’s possible to use such a term, will confound those who were expecting something sporty from the ex-McLaren designer – how does 0-62 mph in just under 15 seconds and a top speed of 66 mph grab you?
However the numbers Murray and his team would prefer us to notice relate to the T27’s energy efficiency – in comparison to other electric cars the T.27 is claimed to consume much less energy per mile, the Smart EV uses 29% more energy per km, the Mitsubishi iMiEV uses 36% more energy per km, and the Mini-E uses 86% more energy per km, making the T.27 the most efficient electric car by some margin.
The T.27 is a £9 million project, made possible through a £4.5 million investment from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board, it will make its public road debut at the RAC Future Car Challenge on 5th November 2011 and Murray is said to be in discussions with three possible manufacturers to bring it into production.
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Written By
Steve Davies
Steve is an investor, private equity advisor and former Partner at KPMG, PwC and Bain. Most importantly he's a life-long car enthusiast, mountain biker and active sports enthusiast. He designs and builds technology platforms and is the architect behind Transmission.
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