Electric cars have captured much of the limelight during the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022. Rubbing shoulders with classic and competition vehicles, proposals such as the Genesis Electrified GV70, the Polestar 5, or the Renault 5 Prototype have shown attendees that the future, although zero emissions, does not have to be boring.
However, the real star of the event was the McMurtry Spéirling, a diminutive electric single-seater that managed to break the hill climb record, taking first place from the Volkswagen ID. A. With a time of 39.08 seconds, the English prototype was 0.8 seconds ahead of the German record-breaker.
At the wheel of the vehicle was former Formula 1 driver Max Chilton. The McMurtry Spéirling has an approximate power of 1,000 CV and a weight of less than 1,000 kg, something mainly due to its small size (it measures 3.2 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, something that also gives it an advantage in a narrow layout like Goodwood) and the size of its battery (60 kWh). Interestingly, it is a rear-wheel-drive model (it has two motors, but both are associated with the rear axle).
Beyond its infarct performance (0-100 km/h in just over 1.5 seconds and 0-300 km/h in 9 seconds), our protagonist is characterized by being able to generate up to 2,000 kg of downforce independently of the airflow thanks to the use of a fan that “glues” the car to the asphalt.
The McMurtry Spéirling has broken the Volkswagen ID record. R
Despite its radical looks, McMurtry Automotive has confirmed that the Speirling will make it to production as a road version. Thomas Yates, CEO of the startup, has been in charge of making this surprising announcement.
“We want to provide something that can be driven around central London and then on the circuit. It will never be the most comfortable going over bumps, but that’s not the point. The point is that you have this amazing, loud, exciting compact electric car that you know will be the fastest on any track day you attend.
It’s also future-proof, with zero emissions. It’s still early days in some ways, but we have a fully working prototype and it’s amazing, although we’re still deciding the extent of the tweaks we need to make to this version for the road version. We want to conserve as much as we can.”
