Gordon Murray is taking break from designing stupid city cars, developing a new electric sportscar.

The creator of the legendary McLaren F1 hyper car has been commissioned by Toray to design, tool and build a fully functioning prototype showcasing their advanced automotive materials.

The car, called the Teewave AR1, is a 2-seater sports car featuring a carbon monocoque and body components. The car weighs 850kg (including the 240kg battery), which is a whopping 400kg lighter than a Tesla. A great deal of attention has been given to the low weight, low centre of gravity and suspension geometry which has resulted in an excellent ride and handling balance

So it should be very fast. Unfortunately, the Teewave uses Mitsubishi iMiEV’s electric powertrain with max output of 47kw and 180 Nm of torque. So although it looks like it, but the car is no rival for the Tesla.

0 to 60 mph takes 11.4 seconds and it has a top speed of 94 mph. The estimated range is 116 mile, and full recharge takes six hours.

The quoted range is presumably under eco driving condition, which kinda spoils the point. I mean it’s a sports car, isn’t it? You are not going to drive it economically! That said, it’s not fast enough for you to even think about driving vigorously either.

Professor Gordon Murray of Gordon Murray Design said:

“It has been a pleasure to work with Toray Industries’ team on this challenging project. The resultant vehicle weight of just 850Kg achieved using Toray’s carbon fibre once again proves that performance through light weight is the most efficient and environmentally friendly way to achieve power to weight targets.”

Toray Industries said:

“Toray is happy to work with the Gordon Murray Design team to achieve Toray’s basic concept of an eco-friendly and highly efficient light weight electric concept vehicle, TEEWAVE. It should be viewed as a flagship for embodying our Green Innovation Project in the automotive field.”