Meet the T.25

While the McLaren car had a top speed of 240 miles per hour, Gordon Murray’s city car only tops out at 80mph. However, eco-enthusiasts will love the “greenness” of the T.25 – it doesn’t weigh too much (550 kilograms) so it’s good on fuel efficiency (74 miles per gallon), and it has an electric counterpart, the T.27. The T.25 petrol engine model will retail for around $9,000 while its electric cousin comes in at about $18,000.

 

While developing the T.25, Murray also devised a new production process he called “iStream” – all of the main components are fitted directly on to the chassis prior to the body panels, streamlining production and therefore cutting down on emissions.

 

"It is the most radical change in, let's say, the last 100 years of car body making. With ‘iStream’ one of the most cost intensive production steps – body panel press shop – is completely eliminated," Holger Erker said in an interview with CNN. He’s the managing director of the German engineering consulting firm IPE Engineering, who was asked to provide an independent analysis and verify the principles set out by Murray's "iStream" concept. "Flexibility is what all of the OEM's (original equipment manufacturers) are trying to bring to their current car plants. ‘iStream’ is already there.” iStream is a process that has been in development for more than a decade.

 

The T.25 is a very city-friendly car – its small size (considered the smallest three-seater) makes parking in modest spaces easier. It also has only one door, meaning you can park extremely close to an object on three sides instead of two.

 

Murray’s T.25 was unveiled at Smith School's World Forum on Enterprise and Environment in Oxford last Monday.