I used to work for an auto supplier building suspension components. Relatively basic stuff compared to "EV solutions". We would chew threw that $11million in design, testing, and prototyping costs before we even won a job.
certain american costs shouldnt really be taken seriously outside of america though such as R&D and infrastructure costs. London is building a huge underground tunnel for 2.8 Billion, Boston, where I live. constructed a small extension to an ancient subway and a bike trail for 3 Billion.
its all redundant corruption and redtape.
It's for design and prototyping. It won't be for manufacturing. Gordon Murray Automotive is not interested in mass production of anything themselves, but Gordon Murray Design, will design and test products to sell to mass manufacturers.
Now GMG, don't be Aptera. Make it 4 wheels, do it properly, be cost efficient, quick and price it moderatly. And don't spend 12 years talking about it coming soon (tm).
Hmm, BMW already did the lightweight, composite monocoque thing with the i3 and i8. From what I've read, manufacturing them was just too expensive and thus we are back to metal. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that it seems to be hard to do it at cost.
Well, and maybe irrelevant - range on the highway is a function of mostly aero, not weight, so other than longer tire life I'm not sure a lighter BEV would benefit non-spec-sheet-enthusiast owners much. Seems like charging and the cost of the cars are way bigger issues to me - maybe this new platform will push costs down somehow?
Weight is a real problem for street mantainance.
Living in a place where every pothole is fixed, this is currently in discussion since Cars get heavier and heavier, doing more damage.
From everything I've read, the curve is such that 4-7k lbs and probably even up to 9k (lol Hummer EV) vehicles are not going to break your streets. It's much heaver vehicles that do most of the damage, and that also depends on the pavement design and a bunch of other factors.
My anecdote is that, despite living in a brodozer truck heavy town, I can really tell which streets the semis like to travel down.
I'm not sure what you've been reading but the damage to the asphalt scales with the axle weight to the power of four. So an 8k lb vehicle causes about 16 times more damage than a 4k lb vehicle.
I'm not educated on the topic, it might be due to the newly used "whisper tarmac", basically a special mixture used here to reduce tire noise from vehicles with finer particles which the heavier cars rip out.
But either way, if it doesnt happen i'm happier due to less construction.
So, the UK government is funding EV supercar development now?
From what I understand, this grant is part of an 88m one. But, the other recipients are working on postal vehicles, buses, and other things that actually benefit the taxpayers.
Oh now i get it, my parents don't buy a EV because it isnt cool enough for them. Not because they can't charge it streetparking next to their 20 story apartment block.
Will it though? Is the lack of "cool factor" really what's making people hesitant to buy these things?
It seems like they're all loaded to the gills with all the fancy "cool" tech features you could imagine. Plus they're all fast AF, just look at the Model S Plaid. There's several EV supercars already, the Lotus Evija, the Rimac, and several other ones who's names escape me at the moment.
Seems to me (from what I've heard), the main complaints are range and charging. Whether or not those legitimate fears comes down to individual cases. But, I think 5.5m could have been spent elsewhere and would've netted a better return on the people's money. But, that's just my opinion
Especially since, frankly, \~$15 million is really not much money for car development
Even with a small team, I don't see how that much money could help development of a lightweight platform more than spending it on expanding level 3 charging. $250,000 per level 3 unit, assuming double that to pay for installation on publically owned land, and you have 30 new fast charging stations that will actually exist in 5 years time
GMG's proposed platform is likely for commuter cars, not the GMA sports cars. You can check my other reply about APC's funding of auto companies, but GMG's M-Lighten platform seems to fit into APC's goals as they aim to tackle not only weight concerns (a pretty _massive_ one, heh) but also emissions from vehicle production.
Reading other articles on APC's website, these projects aren't being done in isolation. The research is apparently being shared between companies and academic institutions. Plus, this round of funding appears to be focused less on charging infrastructure and more on low-carbon manufacturing, recycling, vehicle technology, prototype testing, etc.
Call me a cynic, but I think 98% of people don't care about supercars at all. I think what drives adoptation is someone in their social group taking the pluge, having it go well, and giving people the confidence to do it themselves
GMG is apparently using the funding for their lightweight EV platform project. Their plan was to make two attainable SUVs, one under the Gordon Murray brand and the other sold by a larger automaker
> From what I understand, this grant is part of an 88m one.
You're correct on that part, but GMG isn't using it for supercars. Since 2022, GMG has been working on an passenger EV platform that's much lighter than what is currently on the market, that they would supply to other manufacturers.
Looking around, GMG is not the only car maker to receive the funding. JLR, Cummins and Ford are a few of the other recipients for the £59.9 million (of the £85.8 overall) that was allocated to auto companies
https://www.apcuk.co.uk/news-events/news/new-59-million-investment-for-uk-green-vehicle-production/
> £59.9 million in combined funding is being invested by leading UK-based automotive companies and the government, which is delivering a grant from the Department for Business and Trade of £29.6 million.
>> The technologies under development aim to boost economic growth and are projected to create or safeguard over 3,500 green jobs and reduce CO2 in the manufacturing and usage of zero-emission vehicles.
Only £5.5m is considered a grant, meaning that GMG has to pay back the rest after they complete this "production-ready, ultra-lightweight, low CO2, monocoque architecture".
Also, [Autocar](https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-government-and-legislation/ultra-light-gordon-murray-platform-wins-%C2%A311m-government) has a paywalled article with a bit more information. For some reason, I was able to read the full thing for a little bit.
The "lightweight" electric SUVs that GMG have been working on since 2022 promise to offer minivan-like utility; [EV Performance](https://evperformance.co.uk/gordon-murray-group-receives-sizeable-11m-funding-to-develop-featherweight-ev-solution/) also claims that one of the SUVs will be sold under a major manufacturer. It also mentioned that GMG has started working on a lightweight and "loud" hybrid sports car.
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