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| Prof Gordon Murray next to a giant motorbike helm... oh, wait, its the tiny windscreen of his latest weird little car, the Motiv. |
GORDON Murray Design has partnered with Delta Motorsport and itMoves to build the Motiv — a autonomous vehicle platform with lines that remind strongly of the Fiat Multipla’s ugly but highly ergonomic double-chin design.
Part-funded through the UK-government’s Intergrated Delivery Programme (“IDP14”), the Motiv is a “cost-effective, ultra-lightweight quadricycle vehicle platform that is designed to meet full passenger-car crash safety requirements”.
Engineered using Gordon Murray Design’s iStream Superlight technology, the single-seater pod’s layout provides what its creators call a “private mobility experience” for the solo drivers who typically make up 80% of traffic in most cities.
The Motiv is higher, but shorter, than the well-known Smart car, meaning two Motivs can easily park in a normal car’s parking space.
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| The Motiv looks like the lovechild of a motorbike helmet and Fiat Multipla. |
NOT FOR PRIVATE USE
The Motiv is not aimed at private owners, but future companies that rent out Mobility as a Service (MaaS).
The consortium said the Motiv provides the opportunity for MaaS providers to use a product that is ready for immediate adaptation to driverless use with any form of autonomous technology. The companies’ next aim to partner with autonomous technology providers for multiple pilot studies.
They hope to have the Motiv ready for mass production before 2025.
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| The single-seat pod have one door that provides a big opening and a bit of a roof inInte the rain. |
UNDER THE FLOOR
The Motiv is powered by a 20 kW electric motor and will be equipped with a 17,3 kWh liquid-cooled battery pack providing a potential range of up to 100 km. It moves operates at speeds of up to 65 km/h. The battery recharges from 20% to 80% in just 40 minutes.
Delta’s drive-by wire dedicated vehicle control architecture operates the steering, propulsion and braking.
The electrical integration expertise provided by Delta Motorsport uses a “plug-and-play” high-voltage system that significantly reduces cost, alongside production and assembly times.
The braking and steering systems are also small and lightweight for minimal intrusion into cabin space.
INSIDE
José Paris, director of itMoves, said the Motiv’s design philosophy is based on three points — a small footprint, first class interior, and a city-friendly image.
A gull-wing door provides a big opening to load passengers or parcels.
The pod has air conditioning and a 24-inch touch screen.
The skateboard platform allows different cabin styles with a second seats, wheelchair ramps or cargo clamps to be bolted on.
LOTS OF LIGHTNESS ADDED
Murray’s Superlight technology takes inspiration from aircraft design, with a high-strength, extruded aluminium chassis, composite panels and aluminium suspension to keep the vehicle’s weight (excluding batteries) below 450 kg, which allows it to license as a quadricycle in Europe.
It is relatively safe too. Gordon Murray Design has engineered Motiv to conform to European passenger car (M1) crash safety standards, making it the first quadricycle to incorporate passenger car safety levels.
Murray has been fanatic about “just adding lightness” since his days as a young racer in Durban, where he even filed down the bolts on his cars to reduce the weight.
“The best way to make any vehicle commercially viable and cost-effective, while delivering first-class efficiency, is to make it as light as it can be while retaining the highest levels of safety,” he said in a statement. “With Motiv we have used our iStream technologies to create an ultra-lightweight body structure that delivers a vehicle that is compact, refined, safe and versatile, while remaining capable of significant range,” said Murray.
OTHER CARS BY GORDON MURRAY
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| For proof that practical equates ugly, look no further than the Fiat Mutlipla and Gordon Murray's first city car, the T25. |
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| The fugly T25 morphed into this sleek Yamaha city car, which was regrettably shelved when Yamaha decided to focus on its bikes, quads, boat engines and generators, rather than small cars. |
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| McLaren designer Gordon Murray's latest supercar is not practical at all, and therefore quite the eye candy. |
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| The Ox is Gordon Murray's answer to a challenge to build a vehicle that will work in any developing market. It is currently being tested in India. |
