Gordon Murray's T.27 City Car specs announced

 Gordon Murrays  T.27 City Car specs announced
Gordon Murray's T.27 City Car Powertrain packaging

Small and slow

New details have emerged about Gordon Murray's T.27 City Car.

Essentially an electric version of the T.25, the T.27 features a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery and a small electric motor with 25 kW (34 hp / 34 PS) and 875 Nm (645 lb-ft) of torque. This allows the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in less than 15 seconds, before topping out at 105 km/h (65 mph). While it's not fast, the 680 Kg (1,500 lb) T.27 will have a range of 129-161 kilometers (80-100 miles). More importantly, "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.  Full lifecycle CO2 damage will be 42% less than the average UK car," according to the press release.

The car will measure 2.50m (8.2 feet) long, 1.30m (4.3 feet) wide, and 1.6m (5.3 feet) tall. It will ride on a wheelbase of 1.78m (5.8 feet) and have a turning radius of 6.0m (19.7 feet). Other notable specs include a 190-750 liter luggage capacity and a McLaren F1-style three-seat arrangement.

If everything goes according to plan, a running prototype will be completed in April 2011.

Source: Gordon Murray Design

Gordon Murray Design announce the Specification and Performance Targets for the T.27 City Car, a pure electric drive vehicle designed to fully optimise packaging, weight and performance.  The announcement marks an exciting leap forward in efficiency for electric vehicles and working closely with their powertrain partner, Zytek Automotive, a brand new, innovative, lightweight and fully integrated electric motor, control system and battery will be designed to ensure that maximum efficiency is achieved.

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.  Full lifecycle CO2 damage will be 42% less than the average UK car.

Vehicle Specification

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

 

 

Performance Targets

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 innovative T.25 city car, an MPV with 6 possible internal layouts.

The efficiency in cost, weight and performance comes in part from the ‘clean sheet of paper’ approach, part from the full integration of the powertrain and also from the low energy manufacturing system developed by Gordon Murray Design called iStream®.

iStream® massively reduces the capital investment required to produce the vehicle and also the energy required for manufacture plus the flexibility of the iStream® process would also allow the petrol powered T.25 and the T.27 to be manufactured at the same plant.

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.

Professor Gordon Murray, CEO of Gordon Murray Design said:

“The Technology Strategy Board have been incredibly supportive of the T.27 programme and together we are working to keep this in the United Kingdom.  It is a great opportunity to work with Zytek Automotive and our other partners on this very exciting programme.  We always strive to lead the way in automotive design and our current goal is to maximise efficiency of electric vehicles.”

Bill Gibson, Chairman of Zytek Automotive said:

Zytek’s new innovative powertrain, developed from our substantial experience of EV and hybrid vehicle production programmes, will substantially reduce the weight and cost of the electric engine, whilst delivering  the quality, refinement and driving experience that T.27 customers will demand.”

Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board said:

"This is another example of the UK positioning itself to benefit from the economic opportunities offered by the emerging low-carbon vehicles market.It’s great that the T.27, a fantastic example of smart engineering and sustainable design, is at the forefront of this. We are also glad that we were able to support a project that enabled Gordon Murray Design and Zytek Automotive and the other partners to work together to be truly innovative.”

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Comments (8)

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 kazama2000 kazama2000
Please review. "It will ride on a wheelbase of 1.78m (5.8 feet) and have a turning radius of 6.0m (19.7 feet)", the Press Release data a "6.0m" is Turning Circle. Gordon Murray, the guy this name always show us an innovative.
May 28, 2010 4:41 am
 YuZi YuZi
875NM of torque?! Something is definitely not right here!
May 28, 2010 5:07 am
 charlemagne charlemagne
Another toy. THIS IS NOT THE FUTURE OF THE CAR!
May 28, 2010 6:03 am
 rendra_htbarat rendra_htbarat
i don't understand it either ..like the audi e-tron 2000 Nm electric motor,cough, lying..anyway gordon murray designed the mclaren f1 right ? so what's the special thing about this T27 ?
May 28, 2010 6:12 am
 GTurbo GTurbo
I believe this is reverse psychology in auto design concept. You may laugh at the 'F1 supermini', but when the dust settles, you'll realise that that's exactly what the world did to Sir Alec Issigonis's original and groundbreaking MINI!
May 28, 2010 7:02 am
 kooper kooper
I'm no econobox fan, but this so far seems sensible. In a small city-car, a 3-seat layout does make sense, as does the relatively compact powertrain. So far, so good.
May 28, 2010 8:52 am
 Indian Autos Blog Indian Autos Blog
when Tata brings out the Nano/Nano EV, people term it absurd, ugly, unsafe and even illogical. When a British man designs something similar to it, it's cool and gets everyone's Brownie points. I've read international reactions to this very car on all automobile blogs and no one questions about its safety or reliability. Tata has been building trucks for decades and was Daimler's partner in India for most of the journey. Tata's built several cars now and even sold/sells some of its models overseas. Its got Land Rover and Jaguar's engineering team on stand-by, so I assume the Nano, when it reaches Europe/UK will be a safe drive. But what about Murray's car shown here? What do you think will make the T25 safer than the Nano? Going by the sketch here, I don't think it looks good either. Its like a box with melted edges. I drive a Nano myself, and I find it easier to get it, more comfortable to drive than many mini cars in my country (previous gen Chevrolet Spark, Hyundai Atoz, current gen Suzuki Alto). I'm sure the T27 will be uncomfortable, cramped and have little or no usable luggage area. The Nano's luggage area is 80 liters, enough for a large suitcase, dare I say 2 of them. Glancing at the tech specs here, I think T25 (petrol model) should have similar horsepower, and given the car will weight about 650kg (Autocar UK website, April 30) I expect it to have lower power-to-weight ratio compared to the gasoline Nano which makes 35hp and weighs 635kg (I'm talking about the top-end model that features air conditioning, power locks, power brakes etc) When it comes from Europe/Britain/America, people laud it, stand up and clap. When it comes from India, it's only meant for dodging cows or someone said "transporting milk to feed rats in our temple"
May 28, 2010 12:34 pm
 kooper kooper
a) Gordon Murray is NOT a Brit... b) You drive a Nano yourself in your own words, so you're likely biased. c) The Nano was in development way before they (i.e. Tata) bought over LR or Jag... d) Murray designed the McLaren F1, arguably the best hypercar of its time, if not all time (up to now). In case you weren't aware, he was also the engineering mastermind behind one of the McLaren Formula 1 team's most dominant seasons in the sport, if not one of the most dominant performances of all time in Formula 1. e) Neither the T25 nor T27 exist yet, yet you insist on already comparing it to the Nano (admittedly a car I have not had a personal introduction to yet). It's premature on your part. f) Instead of focusing on the engineering/ technological aspects, you seem to favor accusing European/ American/ British people (and I'm neither one of those in case you're wondering) of being biased, yet this accusation seems to have a biased foundation on your part. You're not helping your own cause I'm afraid. The Nano had quite a few stumbling blocks had it not? Sporadic combustion? Factory workers protesting violently? Delayed production (though, to be fair, it shares this with the Veyron of all things)? Questionable customer satisfaction? Exorbitant parts pricing? How about we first wait for either the T25 or T27 to reach production before we start drawing comparisons, eh?
May 28, 2010 3:00 pm