Shell on board for Project M

Gordon Murray (pictured), the man who penned the original McLaren F1, has earned the backing of multi-national oil industry player Shell for his latest project.

Named Project M, Murray's latest work amounts to what Shell in its press release describes as "a ground-up, total re-think of the Gordon Murray Design T.25 car developed in 2010".

Shell was involved in the development of the T.25 (pictured here in blue), but Project M will take the oil company's participation further, making its input fundamental to the car's design.

As Selda Gunsel, Shell's VP of Lubricants Technology, explains it, the design of the car could be optimised for improved sustainability and fuel efficiency with the oil company involved every step of the way – including the preliminary stages of vehicle development.

"Since working with the Gordon Murray Design team on the T.25 car in 2010, we have given further thought on how to deliver a complete rethink of the car, using as little energy as possible," Gunsel (pictured) was quoted saying in Shell's press release.

"We believe this Shell car will demonstrate how efficient a car can be when Shell works in harmony with vehicle and engine makers during design and build, supplying fuels and lubricants technical expertise. Shell is excited to be working with such top calibre partners and invite others to join us for the remaining part of this exciting journey."

The partners to whom Gunsel refers are The Gordon Murray Design Group and engine specialist Geo Technology, led by Osamu Goto (pictured), the former director of Honda F1, R&D manager at Ferrari F1 and board member at a Sauber-owned company. Previously the three partners had worked together on Honda F1 cars driven by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988.

Back in 2010 the T.25 returned a fuel consumption figure of 97mpg (2.9L/100km) on a run between London and Brighton, famously the route for the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. In 2015, Shell believes there's room to improve on that figure.

While the new car is currently known only as 'Project M', it's expected to be officially renamed on its debut in November of this year. But there are no plans for it to enter production.

According to Shell, the car is kind of a conversation starter, something to get people thinking and planning for a future in which 75 per cent of the estimated nine billion people will live in cities by 2050.

Project M has been signed off for launch at this weekend's Americas round of the Shell Eco-Marathon in Detroit, which brings together students in teams for the development and testing of ultra-efficient alternative-energy vehicles. More information is available from the company's web page for Project M.

Another all-new micro-car under development by a non-mainstream player is Yamaha's MOTIVE.e (pictured here in silver), which was first shown at the 2013 Tokyo motor show.