Gordon Murray is currently working on the pictured three-seater T.50 supercar
Gordon Murray Group
Electric cars do a lot of things right. They are quiet, comfortable and easy to use. They relax the driver more than their internal combustion relatives, and their acceleration performance can be really mind-boggling.
But is it fun to drive past the traffic light Grand Prix? Can you address the driving enthusiast who is currently interested in a Lotus Elise, an Alpine A110 or a Mazda Miata?
Gordon Murray, the legendary car designer who was instrumental in Ayrton Senna’s Formula 1 world titles and then awarded us the McLaren F1, believes he can build an exciting EV – and one that doesn’t need fancy power to get an exciting ride to deliver.
I recently spoke to Murray about his company’s expansion plans and the new electric vehicle division. This division, called Gordon Murray Electronics, will focus on developing electric vehicle platforms for other manufacturers.
But there’s another part of the Gordon Murray business. One who is currently working on the T.50 supercar, the spiritual son of the McLaren F1, and is called Gordon Murray Automotive.
Everything GMA has on its roadmap is driving pleasure. And before the world goes fully electric, this roadmap will include cars powered by the same high-revving V12 as the T.50. This engine will eventually achieve hybrid capabilities before legislation finally lowers the curtain on combustion – and after that, GMA will produce all-electric cars.
Gordon Murray is best known for his design work on the McLaren F1 team and more recently with McLaren Cars.
Gordon Murray Group
“Hopefully we’ll never make a boring electric car,” Murray told me on a video call just before lockdown measures in the UK were eased. “We have a lot of very good, young designers on board who learn the trade and know how a car feels and drives well.”
Taking up a number of principles established by his GMA company, Murray says, “I promise you one thing, we have already said that GMA will never produce more than 100 models or variants, and that is a promise. Whatever we do and whatever powertrain it has, it will be the most fun to drive. Relative to a naturally aspirated V12? Probably not, but relative to other people’s electric cars? Certainly.”
At this point, Philip Lee, GMA’s CFO, joins the interview to reassure Murray’s notoriously sophisticated approach to lightweight construction is alive and well. “Gordon looks at a car, pulls it apart and says, ‘This is too difficult, it can change, it can come loose. ‘It’s an embedded way of engineering and a way of working that probably not many engineers are used to … it runs right through the heart of the business and I can assure you that it will continue to do so for all future products. ”
After further exploring my question about the feasibility of a fun, lightweight electric sports car, Murray continues, “I’m sure we can eventually build an electric vehicle that is still fun. But I promise you it won’t be 2,000 horsepower [hypercar]. ”
Gordon Murray promises that his future electric sports cars won’t be overly powerful.
Gordon Murray Group
Murray adds, “Until we get the next generation of battery technology – because the energy density of the current batteries is so bad at the moment – unfortunately you can’t have your cake and eat it when it comes to supercars.”
Murray returned to his design firm’s plan to produce a B-segment electric SUV: “When it comes to a four- or five-seat urban SUV, you absolutely can [have your cake and eat it]. If you can get that up to 1,000 kg, this will be fun. “
Can you really bring a vehicle like this up to 1,000 kg, I ask?
“Well, we’ll try,” Murray replies immediately. “But if you want to build a 2,000 horsepower supercar with current battery technology, it will never have decent vehicle dynamics as it will weigh almost two tons.”
Murray doesn’t mention names, but is certainly referring to a trifecta of 2,000-horsepower electric supercars that will hit the market later this year and next in the form of the Lotus Evija, Rimac C_Two and Automobili Pininfarina Battista. Though not quite two tons, they are all undoubtedly heavier than Murray would expect from a supercar that bares its name. According to Lotus, the Evija has a target weight of 1,680 kg, but is powered by a relatively small 70 kWh battery that’s 30 percent smaller than that of a Tesla Model S.
Makers of these cars, particularly Rimac with its C_Two, say that an electric powertrain can be made fun and characterful with torque vectoring, tweaking the power distribution across the car’s four engines to improve handling and give the car a feel of to give everything.
LONDON, UNITED KINDOM – AUGUST 19: The Lotus Evija seen at the London Concours. Every year some of the … [+]
Getty Images
Murray isn’t so sure. “The only thing I’ve always told people is that you can’t change the laws of physics if things haven’t changed since I went to school, you know? You can dress things up, but you can never change the laws of physics. “
I’m suggesting how torque vectoring could help here, but Murray doubles up. “That’s what I mean, it’s a disguise. Ultimately, a car for a certain weight only responds to inputs up to a certain point. You can disguise it to a point with active roll control, all that stuff, but ultimately a mass moves quickly from left to right, it depends on the mass of the car. “
As my allotted 30 minutes with Murray comes to an end – and I suspect Gordon is a man who keeps his workdays on a tight schedule – I quickly say what I thought “SUV” was a forbidden word in the Gordon Murray Dictionary would.
“It would be in GMA, I can promise you … People are not allowed to use ‘SUV’ or ‘Bracket’ in this company. But I have to say [at Gordon Murray Design] I just go with the flow. That’s what people call it. They’re not sport utility vehicles, are they? They’re more like … I preferred the original tile. I had three Renault Espaces when they came out in the 1980s and they were called multi-purpose vehicles, MPVs. And that was such a brilliant car. “
Murray goes back to the idea of calling his future electric car an SUV: “The problem we have is that I hate the name, but if we make up our own name, no one will know what the hell we’re talking about.
“What people in the city are looking for is something easy to drive, easy to park, easy to maneuver and with a higher driving position than a car that you don’t take into town. And unfortunately the generic term for it is “SUV”. Maybe I should think of a new name. “
The post “We can build a fun electric car,” says Gordon Murray – and it certainly won’t have 2000 horsepower first appeared on monter-une-startup.
