This is Gordon Murray’s latest city car solution*

By topgear, 12 February 2020

Gordon Murray CBE is one of the world’s greatest road and race car designers. We’ve had the full tech download from the man himself on his upcoming T50 hypercar and we’re practically champing at the bit for any more info at this stage. An extra image or two wouldn’t go amiss either. 

Before the T50, though, were two ill-fated attempts at “revolutionising the city car” – T25 and its EV sibling, the T27. Both versions were compact, lightweight three-seaters that were manufactured using a new production method known as iStream. Things went suspiciously quiet though, and neither the T25 or the T27 came to market.

Now though, Murray is back at it, or rather, his company is. The images above are of a new vehicle known as the MOTIV – the result of a collaboration between Gordon Murray Design, Delta Motorsport and itMoves. 

The basics: the Motiv (we don’t pander to enforced capitalisation) is essentially an autonomous, electric, single-passenger pod thing. However, there’s a slight problem… it doesn’t actually feature any autonomous technology, and as you can see there’s a TV screen where you might otherwise expect a steering wheel. Riiiight.

Essentially, GMD, Delta and itMoves have built the base car – or quadricycle to give it its official title – using the cost-effective aluminium and composite iStream method. The three companies would then offer the Motiv to ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS) providers to adapt it for autonomous use. Apparently, depending on the legislation, after that development it could be ready for mass production within two to five years.

Currently the Motiv features a 20kW electric motor connected to a 17.3kWh battery. That makes for a range of 62 miles (approx. 100km) and a top speed of 64kph in something that weighs around 450kg without the battery. For context, it’s 1.6m high, 2.5m long and 1.3m wide. It’s also rear-wheel drive – but does anyone care about that when it’s autonomous? Check out that single gullwing door, though – that’s what people will care about in the future. 

It’s all about urban transportation of course, and GMD says the platform meets full passenger-car crash safety requirements and could be converted for commercial deliveries or to seat multiple occupants. 

What do you reckon, Internet? Getting bored of these autonomous pod things yet? Well hang on there – this sort of thing is what gets a company a Government grant, so if that in any way enables or indirectly supports production of the T50 – we’re all for it…