Gordon Murray, who revolutionized Formula 1 cars in the 1980s and was responsible for the creation of the one of the best supercars of all time, the extraordinary McLaren F1, has recently become a champion of environmentally friendly vehicle.
Not too long ago, he even revealed an all-electric city car, the T.27, and said that he’s talking to three manufacturers for getting it into production.
However, old habits die hard. Despite all the talk about revolutionizing city mobility, his true calling is in sports cars. Now, if Murray could create an eco-friendly sports model, he would combine his two different interests into one all-encompassing project.
The chance came along when carbonfiber specialist Toray Industries Inc. commissioned Gordon Murray Design [GMD] to build an all-new all-electric roadster. The result is the open-top, two-seater Teewave AR.1, or as Murray calls it, the T.32.
The Teewave AR.1 uses a carbonfiber monocoque chassis developed by Toray and is powered by the Mitsubishi iMiEV’s electric powertrain. While the electric motor develops only 65-horses, the AR.1’s weight does not exceed 850 kg (1,874 lbs) including the 240 kg (529 lbs) battery.
Still, 65HP is, well, 65HP so GMD’s performance figures aren’t exactly worthy of a car that wants to belong to the sports segment: 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 11.4 seconds and a top speed of 146 km/h (91 mph).
Nevertheless, Murray claims that the T.32 “proves that performance through light weight is the most efficient and environmentally friendly way to achieve power-to-weight targets.”
GMD says that development of the car from concept discussions to running vehicle took just nine months.
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