Will our grandkids ever believe we used to burn fossil fuels for fun?
Gordon Murray Design has today announced specification and performance targets for the much-vaunted T.27 City Car, a pure electric drive vehicle designed to fully optimise packaging, weight and performance. Sadly today's news release doesn't mention anything about fun...
Working closely with their powertrain partner, Zytek Automotive, GMD says the T.27 will feature a brand new, innovative, lightweight and fully integrated electric motor, control system and battery - giving a top speed of 65mph and a range of 80-100 miles.
Projected emissions, using a UK energy mix, are 48g/km CO2 for the combined cycle and 28g/km CO2 for the urban cycle alone, with zero emissions at the point of use. We're not exactly sure what all of that means, so we'll take Gordon's word for it and be impressed. "Full lifecycle CO2 damage will be 42% less than the average UK car," his company says. (And we're prepared to bet it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as Zytek's V8 Le Mans engine that's still ringing in our ears after yesterday's Beechdean Mansell Le Mans test!)
Someone will find a way...
Official Vehicle Specification and Performance Targets:
eMotor: 25kW Height: 1.60m
Battery Type: Li-ion Weight: 680Kg (incl. battery)
Battery Spec. 12kWh Wheel Base: 1.78m
Length: 2.50m Turning Circle: 6.0m
Width: 1.30m
Top Speed: 105kph
0-100kph: Less than 15 seconds
Range: 80 - 100 miles
The T.27 vehicle concept closely follows the layout and geometry of Gordon Murray Design's T.25 city car, an MPV with 6 possible internal layouts.
The 16 month programme started in November 2009 with a running prototype scheduled for completion in April 2011 and is supported with a 50% investment from the Technology Strategy Board. The next phase in the programme will include a push to secure partners and funding for UK manufacture. A UK partner or consortium to produce the city cars in the UK would keep the technology at home and could create 6,000 jobs, GMD says.