Formula One race car designer, Gordon Murray Group, has recently announced plans to invest USD 420 million over the next five years in a slew of ventures including manufacturing electric delivery vans and SUVs as it aims to become an all-electric supercar maker by 2030.

The company has been developing designs for an electric and lightweight SUV as well as a delivery van, which it plans to supply to traditional manufacturers and startups.

Gordon Murray Group intends to expand its scope beyond a car manufacturer to an auto supplier. Thus, it is planning to develop a test fleet of vehicles adhering to international standards over the next two and a half years.

Chairman Gordon Murray expressed that electric vehicles are the future, and the company had been lagging in this aspect.

The company is expected to launch its first supercar, named T50 boasting a powerful V12 engine, by 2022. Hundred more units will be produced during 2023 and have already been pre-booked for an estimated USD 3.39 million each.

Another Formula One fossil-fuel-powered supercar will be launched after the T50, following which, a hybrid model will be introduced in around 2026, and eventually a fully electric supercar by 2029-30.

It is to be noted that premium automakers like Lotus and McLaren generally use very heavy batteries, making it difficult to develop supercars or sportscars that can perform at par with their fossil-fuel equivalents.

In this context, experts cited that Murray’s company needs to tackle this problem to develop a superior electric car that matches the standard of supercars.

Prof. Murray, dubbed the supercar to be a ‘brand building’ product serving the high-end category of his business while the company will focus on light-weight electric cars for the end-users.

In other news, EV leader Tesla Inc. has decided to halt plans of buying land for its Shanghai plant expansion due to uncertainties created by the political strain between the U.S and China.

Source Link –

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2021-05-10/formula-one-great-to-develop-electric-vans-suvs-for-carmakers-startups