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WHAT a time for the UK car industry! Bentley announcing its bold plans for electrification, a beleaguered Aston Martin coming out fighting with a 697bhp version of its excellent DBX, Land Rover revealing plug-in hybrid versions of the new Range Rover, and Lotus teaming up with new battery supplier Britishvolt to produce its next all-electric sportscar. Then there’s the newest – and one of the most exciting – British car maker: Gordon Murray Automotive. If ever I’ve seen an car-related example of knowing your market and delivering exactly what your customers want, this is it. A compact, lightweight sports car that’ll cost around £1.4m (plus taxes) may not be mainstream, but I suspect the T.33 (above) will be another car that Gordon Murray and his colleagues won’t have to sell too…

WHAT a time for the UK car industry! Bentley announcing its bold plans for electrification, a beleaguered Aston Martin coming out fighting with a 697bhp version of its excellent DBX, Land Rover revealing plug-in hybrid versions of the new Range Rover, and Lotus teaming up with new battery supplier Britishvolt to produce its next all-electric sportscar. Then there’s the newest – and one of the most exciting – British car maker: Gordon Murray Automotive. If ever I’ve seen an car-related example of knowing your market and delivering exactly what your customers want, this is it. A compact, lightweight sports car that’ll cost around £1.4m (plus taxes) may not be mainstream, but I suspect the T.33 (above) will be another car that Gordon Murray and his colleagues won’t have to sell…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy • Two-seat T.33 enters production next year • Powered by 607bhp Cosworth V12 GORDON Murray Automotive has followed up the T.50 with a new supercar that’s billed as being more approachable, but just as pure in its attitude to performance. It’s called the T.33 and it will go into production next year with a conventional two-seat layout. The new car gets its own chassis made from carbon fibre and aluminium, and loses the fan-based aerodynamics of the T.50, resulting in a neat, clean shape. “It’s really a look that’s been in my head for many years,” designer Gordon Murray told us. “It’s absolutely not retro, but there are a lot of small influences from my favourite sports racing cars of the sixties.” Key features include vertically stacked headlights, round LED-based tail-lights, and pronounced haunches…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy • Two-seat T.33 enters production next year • Powered by 607bhp Cosworth V12 GORDON Murray Automotive has followed up the T.50 with a new supercar that’s billed as being more approachable, but just as pure in its attitude to performance. It’s called the T.33 and it will go into production next year with a conventional two-seat layout. The new car gets its own chassis made from carbon fibre and aluminium, and loses the fan-based aerodynamics of the T.50, resulting in a neat, clean shape. “It’s really a look that’s been in my head for many years,” designer Gordon Murray told us. “It’s absolutely not retro, but there are a lot of small influences from my favourite sports racing cars of the sixties.” Key features include vertically stacked headlights,…

sean_carson@autovia.co.uk • Model will arrive in 2025, with a new EV every year up to 2030 • Crewe factory to be transformed thanks to £2.5bn investment BENTLEY will launch its first full EV in 2025 and will follow this with a new all-electric model every year to 2030, the brand has confirmed. Alongside these five new EVs introduced between late 2025 and 2030, the British firm will also launch five new hybrid cars this year, accelerating its electrification strategy. Every Bentley will be at least a plug-in hybrid by 2026, and fully electric from 2030. Securing £2.5bn in investment to underpin these five new electric cars, Bentley will also revamp its Crewe factory to become a state-of-the-art facility for EV manufacturing (below right). Our exclusive image previews what Bentley’s first all-electric model could look like,…

AS part of Bentley’s fully electric vision, its home in Crewe will play a key part. Securing £2.5bn of sustainable private investment, this will underpin the transformation towards a ‘Dream Factory’. The plant in Cheshire has already achieved certification as a carbon-neutral facility, and among future initiatives to further improve sustainability is an extension of on-site energy production at Crewe, with targets to also increase the number of solar panels from 30,000 to 40,000 over the next two years. The brand also intends to reduce the level of water consumption, waste sent to landfill and many other processes that produce CO2 in the manufacturing process for every vehicle built at Crewe. Bentley will also impose minimum sustainability standards on its suppliers. As part of its extensive renovation of the Crewe…