Fig. 2. Gordon Murray Design has created the T.25 as a compact, lightweight city car that is manufactured using a new energy-efficient production process known as iStream.


combination of stiffness, strength and low weight. Although this material is difficult to recycle, Spowers calculates that a body made this way is more sustainable than one fabricated from steel, plus it is more cost-effective over the vehicle’s lifetime and does not increase the price for the consumer Riversimple has now been joined by Christopher Reitz,


who previously headed the design team at Fiat, where he was responsible for the Fiat 500, before moving to Alfa Romeo.


The first task for Reitz is to take the existing design for the urban car and develop it to a stage where 30 can be built for testing in the UK city of Leicester, with users getting their first cars in the summer of 2012. These will be trialled for a year, with drivers providing feedback on their experience. Another former race car designer, Professor Gordon Murray,


has also taken a holistic approach to the design of a lightweight urban car. Initially his firm, Gordon Murray Design, created


Fig. 3. Based on the Gordon Murray Design T.25 but with a pure electric powertrain, the T.27 has passed its first crash tests.


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