Gordon Murray designs electric sports car

Toray Industries Teewave AR.1 by GMD

Gordon Murray Design has created an electric roadster for Toray Industries – the Teewave AR.1 – with the Mitsubishi i-MiEV powertrain.

If you jumped straight from the headline to here, you may be flushed with excitement at the prospect that Gordon Murray – the man responsible for the McLaren F1 – has penned an electric roadster – the Toray Teewave AR.1.

Admittedly the name doesn’t roll of the tongue quite like ‘McLaren F1’, but we can forgive the uninspiring name as the Teewave AR.1 is bound to be impressive. Isn’t it?

Truthfully, no. The Teewave AR.1 is a very light, two-seater roadster with all the power of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV – which means not a lot.

In fact it means the Teewave AR.1 gets a 16kWh lithium-ion battery bank and an electric motor which develops 63hp (and no, we haven’t missed a ‘0’ off the horses) and a more impressive 133lb/ft of torque.

Gordon Murray’s obsession with lightness and simplicity does help the Teewave AR.1 move a little better than the donor electric gubbins might suggest, as a weight of 850kg means a 0-60mph of 11.4 seconds and a top speed of 91mph.

Because the Teewave AR.1 is light, its performance is just about acceptable and its range – at a quoted 115 miles – is better than the i-MiEV can manage – but that’s no doubt an ideal world range, not one on a cold, dark, wet Monday morning.

We’re big fans of Gordon Murray – even his new-found obsession with small city cars – but we don’t see the point of the Teewave AR.1. It can only move two people and will not be cheap, and the only place an electric car is of any use is in congested urban environments. Which is the last place you really want the top down.

Still, we’re sure the commission from Toray Industries for the Teewave AR.1 – or the GMD T23, as Gordon calls it – paid a few bills. And it only took GMD nine months from commission to completion, including the carbon fibre monocoque.

Can you tell?