Legendary supercar designer Gordon Murray is going electric

Despite debuting a V12 engine capable of spinning to 12,100rpm in his new T.50 supercar, legendary supercar designer Gordon Murray's engineering company in the UK is increasingly focused on an electric future.

Murray designed cars that won five Formula One world championships with the Brabham and McLaren teams, before designing the landmark McLaren F1 road car – also a winner of the Le Mans 24-Hour sports car race – and then starting his own automotive consultancy with a focus on low-cost, low-volume car manufacturing.

Gordon Murray Automotive has already revealed two million-dollar supercars (the T.50 and T.33), announced plans for its first two SUV projects, as reported by Drive in June – and the company has now confirmed a broader focus on future propulsion choices.

It is looking at hybrids, electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell packs to generate onboard electricity.

“Eventually we’ll all end up going electric,” the CEO of Gordon Murray Group, Phillip Lee said in an interview with Top Gear magazine in the UK.

“I think that will be the end point and the reason is because legislation will dictate where we’re all going.

“We’ve got R&D [research and development] within Gordon Murray Technologies in order to explore different types of powertrains, all the way through hybridisation, electrification, hydrogen, alternative fuels ... we’re looking at everything in order to see where the roadmap is.”

Even so, Lee said the company was also focused on ensuring the emotion of driving is not lost in the transition to electric power.

“The ethos about our brand and what we’re doing is we want people to drive our cars. We want to see them out and about and we want people to enjoy them. They’re not museum pieces to just sit there,” he said.

“We get a lot of customers asking us ‘Where is the emotion going to come from, how am I going to feel it resonate through the car?’, which is absolutely true.

Lee said the company was already working on electrification and trying to “stay ahead of the game” with all future power possibilities.

“There are ways of using the V12, going hybrid or using cleaner fuels, but the problem [with electrified powertrains] is if it’s a grand tourer [GT], and I want to jump in and just drive, where do I refuel?” Lee said.

At the announcement of its electric SUV program, Gordon Murray confirmed he would be taking personal control of the vehicles' development.

“People will reconsider what electric vehicles are capable of and I am looking forward to personally overseeing these fascinating projects,” Murray said.