Autocar reveals first picture of Murray T25

Autocar have published the first picture of Gordon Murray's city car proposition, the T25.

The car has been seen testing in Surrey, and Murray expects the first cars to be ready for production in two years time. The T25 is smaller than a Smart and weighs in at only 650kg.

Judging by the photo it's not the prettiest of vehicles (though you can't go too far wrong with matt black paint...), but if the car lives up to expectations it could bring about a change of thinking in the city car market. We're already starting to see smaller vehicles being put forward for serious production, such as Renault's Twizy, which will form the basis of the next Smart itself.

Full story here. Autocar are, as yet, the only magazine to have driven a prototype of the revolutionary city car.

Image: Autocar

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Renault's ZEs... driven by Autocar, confirmed for production

Renault will be the first major car manufacturer in the world to offer a range of zero-emissions all-electric vehicles for sale when the Twizy and Zoe go into production in 2011.

The French manufacturer is taking quite a risk given that this will leave many countries with only a short space of time in which to set up a reasonable electric charging infrastructure, though according to Autocar magazine who feature the three Renault ZE concepts this week, Israel and Denmark have both made commitments to importing 100,000 electric Fluence models by 2012. Renault will be establishing a network of "Quickdrop" centres (areas where ZE customers can take their car to have the entire battery unit changed for a fully-charged on in around three minutes) in these countries.

The Twizy

The Twizy microcar is the smallest of Renault's ZE (Zero-Emissions) concepts and has been confirmed for production in Spain in 2011. The car/scooter is a tandem two seater and is designed solely for city driving, with performance similar to that of a 125cc scooter (topping out at around 50mph). Range is short at roughly 60 miles, but realistically you don't need any more than that in a city commute and even in a city like London you should be able to get at least a couple of days' commuting out of it. As you can see in Autocar's video above, the Twizy is apparently quite fun to drive.

The Zoe

The Zoe is supermini-sized (only slightly larger than a Clio) though unlike the Twizy and the larger Fluence, the styling might well change significantly for production. Renault say the Zoe is more representative of what can be done in terms of size. Range is around 100 miles and the motor makes the equivalent of 95bhp giving a 90mph top speed.

The Fluence

Looking more production-ready than either the Twizy or the Zoe is the Fluence. Styling-wise it shares hints of Renault's 2005 Fluence concept as well as a hint of Tesla Model S. However, it's likely to look much more similar to the production petrol and diesel Fluence that appears to be replacing the old Megane saloon. The concept has the same powertrain as the Zoe and shares similar performance and range.

Renault are clearly taking a large risk putting four EVs on sale at the same time (the fourth is an EV version of the current Kangoo van) but this may well be the kick other manufacturers (and indeed customers) need to embrace electric car technology. We await 2011-12 eagerly to see if customers are ready to take the plunge...

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Volkswagen 1-litre concept one step closer

News arrives via AutoBlogGreen that Volkswagen's 1-litre concept is still under development and nearing production reality.
The concept, now being named the L1, will be on display at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show and Volkswagen have released more details about the car and the engine that will be powering it in a press release that you can read in full on ABG's page.

The 1L has a 0.8 litre TDI developed from Volkswagen's new 1.6 TDI that makes its debut in the new Golf and Passat BlueMotion. Along with automatic stop-start, a 0.195 coefficient of drag and thanks to an all-in weight of only 380kg, the 1L is claimed to sip one US gallon of fuel every 170 miles, or 204mpg imperial (and only 36 grammes per kilometer of CO2). This works out at a little over the original 1l/100km that Volkswagen claimed, though I'm sure owners wouldn't complain as the eventual figure is still only 1.38 litres per 100km. Thanks to the light weight and slippery shape, the 1L also manages 100mph.
Volkswagen are now giving the car a tentative 2013 release date. Should give you time to save up...

(Image credits: Volkswagen)

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