Murray T25 City Car – First Official Images

Gordon Murray Design’s T25 City Car will make its first public appearance at the Smith School’s World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment in Oxford today.

The tiny T25 represents a major breakthrough in city car design in the areas of weight, footprint, safety, usability and efficiency.

Whilst applying a holistic and fit for purpose approach to the design and development of the T25, Gordon Murray Design have taken the opportunity to incorporate solutions to a multiple of urban mobility problems into the T25 design. 

The T25 city car is 8ft (240 cm) long and just 4ft (120cm) wide and will cost around £6,000. It will be followed shortly by an electric version called the T27. That will have a range of 80 to 100 miles and will be priced at around £12,000.

The T25’s short length opens an opportunity to park end on to the curb and the door opening allows 3 cars to be parked in one parallel parking space. It has a turning circle of six meters.

The Murray T25 has independent suspension front and rear and will be powered by a rear-mounted 51bhp 660cc, three-cylinder engine with 42lb ft of torque, linked to a five-speed clutchless transmission.

Among the performance target, the car is designed with a top speed of 90 mph. Acceleration from 0 to 62 mph should be accomplished in about 16 seconds. CC2 emissions are rated at 86g/km, while fuel economy is 74mpg (3.8 l/100km).

T25 USP’s and Key Features

- The T.25 represents a major breakthrough in City Car design and is a vehicle that has been optimised through design for strength, performance, weight, cost, safety, usability, tooling, quality, energy efficiency, recyclable and ease of assembly.

- The T.25 external dimensions create the opportunity to:

     - park at 90 degrees to the curb, offering real consumer benefits,

     - park up to 3 cars in one parallel parking space - giving rise to lower parking charges.

     - increase traffic flow,

     - explore the possibility of 2 vehicles travelling and overtaking in one conventional lane. Combining this with the car length has the potential to triple lane usage at peak times.

     - reduce the environmental impact of vehicle manufacture (ie: lower material content etc) and day-to-day operation.

- The central driving position generates:

     - A unique, ‘cool’ and fun driving experience,

     - promotes safety and ease of parking as a result of excellent all-round visibility and road awareness,

     - the opportunity to offer a single-seater option with retrofit bolt-in rear seats,

     - class-leading rear passenger leg room (better than most ‘B-Segment’ cars).

- By virtue of the unique door opening system, the T.25 can:

     - be parked in very close proximity to other objects and still allow occupants to enter and exit the vehicle. This gives rise to,

     - park 2 in one domestic garage,

     - allow occupants access from both sides of the vehicle,

     - allow easy access to the driver’s seat and easy access to the rear child seats.

- The ultra lightweight by design (approximately 550kg) means that:
     - component life is increased

     - reduced energy is required to power vehicle, giving rise to higher fuel efficiency (mpg/electric battery range).