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Like the P1, its successor will be electrified for more power.
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McLaren is committed to more electrified cars going forward.
People still talk about The Holy Trinity more than six years later. The Porsche 918 Spyder, the Ferrari LaFerrari and the McLaren P1 all launched simultaneously and rocked the hypercar world. All of these cars shared electrification as a means to get more power and performance. After a brief lull punctuated by the Senna, McLaren is once again working on an electrified hypercar.
There are no concrete details available as of yet. In an interview with Autocar, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said: “We haven’t announced the powertrain. Obviously, looking forward, it will be either hybridised or an EV.”
What is certain is that it will hit the road in four years, in 2024. Flewitt does specify that a full track-focused EV is unlikely from McLaren because of current EV technologies. He adds: “I like EVs,[…] They’re responsive, refined and have incredible performance. But the charging times are really restrictive. Take the 765LT as an example. We know a lot of customers are going to take that to the track. If it were an EV, you would be looking at maybe 30 minutes of running time and then plugging it in until the next day. That’s not a persuasive position.”
What may very well happen is that this new Ultimate Series Hypercar will be the first McLaren to feature AWD through the presence of a petrol engine on the rear axle with an electric motor up front. The batteries and front motor will provide some 100% electric momentum over a given range. As we know, current EV technology means that battery packs are quite heavy, and McLaren has a thing about weight…
