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The Shell Concept Car Is a One-Off Based on the Gordon Murray Design T.25

Gordon Murray, the man who conceived the McLaren F1 hypercar from the 1990s, has co-developed an ultra-efficient city car with Royal Dutch Shell, one of the six oil and gas supermajors. Am I the only one that sees something wrong with this picture?
Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25 7 photos
Photo: Shell
Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25Shell Concept Car based on Gordon Murray Design T.25
Today is April 22, also known as Earth Day on Google’s home page and among the green communities. Instead of a sensible CSR campaign (such as tree planting) to celebrate this day, Shell contracted Gordon Murray to rework his T.25 city car into the concept car you can admire in the photo gallery and videos below. What’s wrong with that, you ask?

First, let’s go through some specs. The Shell Concept Car uses so much carbon fiber in its construction that it tips the scales at just 1,212 pounds (550 kilograms). In addition to its featherweightiness, the three-cylinder gasoline engine developed by Geo Technology’s Osamu Goto is as efficient as internal combustion engines can get.

With a fuel economy of 107 miles per gallon (2.64 liters per 100 kilometers) at a steady 45 miles per hour (45 km/h), this one-off prototype is a thoroughly frugal car that makes internal combustion relevant in the era of the battery-powered car.

Shell provided “the fluids for the car, specially designing the motor oil to complement and enhance the overall efficiency of the vehicle.” The use of bespoke lubricants equals “an improvement of 4.67g CO2 per km on the New European Driving Cycle, equivalent to a 5% improvement in fuel efficiency compared to standard lubricants.”

That’s great and all, but isn’t Shell selling standard lubricants to us mortals? Co-designing engine and fluids for a particular engine and a particular car is something that won’t happen too soon on a large scale. Why? Because these things take a lot of time and a lot of money.

Furthermore, since when is an oil supermajor interested in aiding manufacturers in their quest to improve fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions? Wouldn’t that be bad for business? Let’s not forget that Shell exited its Arctic oil drilling efforts in 2015 after oil prices slumped. Furthermore, Shell is cutting 2,000 jobs in The Netherlands to cope with the low oil prices.

I admire the know-how and effort that went into the Shell Concept Car. But on the contrary, Shell shot itself in the leg with this Earth Day gimmick. My rant is now over, thank you. For more information on the great engineering that went into the Shell Concept Car, the release underneath the videos is yours for the taking.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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