Motor racing is now only part of the memories and interests of Gordon Murray, the famous Formula 1 car designer (he worked for Brabham and McLaren).
And that more recently he became the owner of Gordon Murray Design and Gordon Murray Automotive.
Now the 77-year-old British technician, of South African origin, is also heavily involved in an initiative which - despite starting from a necessarily limited size - could improve the lives of around 3 billion people in developing countries.
I am those who have never purchased a vehicle, new or used.
And therefore for personal mobility and for the transport of goods they are forced to make use of absolutely antiquated and penalizing methods.
Photo story Robustness and simplicity make OX ideal for Africa - Photo - Ansa.it
Murray is in fact collaborating with the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT), a non-profit organization founded by Sir Torquil Norman with the aim of developing a prototype vehicle suitable for rural areas in these nations where motorization is still very poor and - where exists - it has to deal with assistance and road infrastructures.
He does this through OX Delivers, a company that developed and owns the intellectual property of the OX truck originally conceived by Gordon Murray for GVT and has now forcefully become part of OX Delivers programs in Africa.
This activity and these projects have gained the attention of the general public in recent days, when the news circulated that OX Delivers has obtained - through the Global Vehicle Trust - a loan of 1.2 million pounds from the UK government body Energy Catalyst .
The financing will allow the organizations involved in the project to continue the development and above all to start production of the OX truck (which Murray had designed taking into account the problems of use in developing countries) in Rwanda, so as to supply a growing number of vehicles to the 'transport as a service' team.
The OX is a basic electric vehicle designed and developed with the mission of becoming the Uber for potatoes, that is, a vehicle to be made available to users through a sharing and participation scheme.
This is the case of Rwanda, where the transport of crops from the 'land of a thousand hills' is faced with steep slopes, the fact that 80% of the roads are not asphalted and frequent floods and landslides.
Eco because the vehicle was designed with all-wheel drive, with a simple and powerful propulsion system (the batteries are housed under the floor of the loading area) and with a very robust steel tube structure, to allow assembly in ' kit' (which already happens in Rwanda) and with bodywork and dashboard made up of flat panels that are very easy to replace.
The current objective - they explain at OX Delivers - is to "implement a 'transport as a service' strategy based on the electric OX truck" and which therefore also has zero impact on the environment.
Thanks to its simple, effective and durable design, OX is perfectly capable of tackling extreme terrain in difficult conditions.
And with a capacity of up to 2,000 kg.
OX Delivers simply provides more accessible transportation solutions.
which do not require you to rent an entire truck to move the goods.
This is because customers can only pay for what they need based on the weight and length of the journey.
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