Gordon Murray Design releases specification for T.27 electric city car

Gordon Murray Design has released details of the T.27 electric version of its city car. The project, led by the former Formula 1 designer Gordon Murray, who was previously involved in the design of McLaren's F1 and Mercedes Benz's SLR Mclaren road cars, also includes the development of a petrol-engined version, the T25. The compact design offers six possible interior layouts.

The T.27 is planned to have a top speed of 105km/h (about 65mph) and accelerate to 100km/h (62mph) in under 15 seconds. In common with several other emerging electric car designs, the T.27 uses lithium-ion batteries; Zytek Automotive is the paper-train partner for the project. As an electric vehicle, the T.27 will emit no CO2 in use, but overall will be responsible for emissions equivalent to 48g/km on official combined cycle tests, given the mix of generation technologies used in UK power stations - that’s about half of the figure achieved by the very best petrol and diesel powered cars on the road today.

The T.25 and T.27 are similar enough to be built on the same line, and the company hopes to keep production in the UK, subject to finding suitable funding and partners. The project has so far been supported by a 50 per cent investment from the UK government's Technology Strategy Board.