McLaren Aims To Define The Electric Supercar
Key Takeaways
- McLaren CEO confirms development of an all-electric supercar with attention to weight and lateral performance.
- McLaren considering a hybrid or electric vehicle to compete with Ferrari Purosangue and Lamborghini Urus, but it may not be an SUV.
- McLaren may partner with another automaker on plug-in hybrids.
For a long time, there has been talk of a McLaren SUV and all-electric supercar, but few details have been forthcoming until now. In an interview with Road & Track, McLaren CEO Michael Leiters provided some new details, including that development on an EV is underway. Not long ago, McLaren announced that it would be pursuing a new design direction, and with its financial future recently secured by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, now is the perfect time to look to the future – a future that could include both hybrids and all-electric vehicles.
McLaren
McLaren Automotive is a manufacturer of sports cars, supercars, and hypercars based in Woking in the United Kingdom. It was launched by Ron Dennis as a spin-off from the McLaren F1 team, and as such, is named after Bruce McLaren. It is famed for its F1-inspired development of high-performance sports cars, supercars, and hypercars like the F1 – the first official roadgoing project from the automaker – and more recent projects like the P1 and McLaren Senna. McLaren was recently purchased by the Mumtalakat Holding Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
- Founded
- 2 December 1985 (as McLaren Cars), revived in 2010 as McLaren Automotive
- Founder
- Ron Dennis
- Headquarters
- Woking, England
- Owned By
- McLaren Group (Mumtalakat Holding Company)
- Current CEO
- Michael Leiters
McLaren SUV Could Be A Plug-In Hybrid
Leiters has previously suggested that a McLaren with space for more than two occupants may not be an SUV, but he has made it clear that a vehicle built under the idea of “shared performance” (where more than one companion can join the driver in the car) is certainly under consideration. With the resounding success of the Ferrari Purosangue and Lamborghini Urus, this is no surprise. What is a little surprising is that this alternative take on what it means to be a McLaren may not be an EV but a hybrid, and this could be based on something from another automaker; the Artura’s powertrain is not necessarily ideal for all applications.
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“I think the smart way [to do a Shared Performance Vehicle] is with technology partnership, to find a partner and create synergies,” said Leiters, “but not to lose anything which is core to McLaren and the DNA of our brand.” He added that if Woking chooses to do a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, it will first evaluate if it can use its own powertrain: “To integrate our powertrain into an existing platform – that would be the ideal world.” Rumors of a McLaren tie-up with BMW have popped up several times in recent years, and if Lamborghini can get away with sharing the Audi Q8 platform with the Bentley Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne, perhaps McLaren can turn another OEM’s systems into something uniquely its own.
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What About An EV?
Whenever the market for electric supercars eventually blossoms, McLaren wants to be ready. “We have started and are working intensively on a pure electric powertrain. This should define how an [electric] supercar should be,” said Leiters. The CEO concedes that others have already shown the potential of EVs – the Rimac Nevera is a good example – but even in that realm, we’re not seeing what an electric supercar ought to offer.
“For me, a supercar that weighs two tons is no supercar. It is easy to have a better power output to increase the performance. This is longitudinal performance, if you like. Acceleration. But the better question is, what is the lateral performance? You cannot deliver that if the weight is too high.”
– Michael Leiters, McLaren Automotive CEO.
The CEO would not be drawn on whether the McLaren EV would be AWD or not, saying that’s a detail he doesn’t want to share yet. When asked whether this electric supercar could exceed the 903-horsepower output of the P1, he said that there are many ways to make it happen: “Why not? But it has to be controllable. When we talk about the importance of emotions to the brand, a negative emotion is getting scared. I think our cars are really easy to drive, and to push our cars to the limit should not be a problem even for nonexpert drivers. I understand that traction is a question, but there is so much potential in aerodynamics, downforce, tire development, and powertrain controls.” Whenever this EV eventually arrives, it should be visceral and exciting yet still manageable and easy to enjoy at lower speeds thanks to less weight than most rivals. We’ll just have to wait a few years more before we see if McLaren has nailed the brief.
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Source:
Road & Track
