V6 hybrid for next McLaren supercar
Model gets all-new carbon platform for lighter weight
The next model from McLaren, and the brand’s first hybrid, is getting ready for the big time. The yet-unnamed car is now in the final stages of testing and development, and that includes street driving to help make sure the car embodies what customers expect from McLaren.
Right now dubbed the High-Performance Hybrid, a name we hope does not ever see a production badge, will use an all-new V6 gas engine, a big deal for an automaker that has been getting plenty of use from just one single 4.0L V8 so far.
The new car will fit in between the GT and 720S in the McLaren range, and it won’t be part of the Sports Series of McLarens, a nomenclature disappearing with the 620R this year.
The hybrid will ride on an all-new carbon fibre structure, dubbed McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture, designed to cut kilos as a method of increasing performance over simply adding power. This platform will underpin a generation of McLaren hybrid supercars, designed and produced by McLaren in Sheffield. Also thanks to that platform, McLaren says it will offer a new generation of driver technologies, though we’re not exactly clear on what that means.
While no power figures were given, McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt said that it “offers blistering performance” but also that it will have an electric range the company calls “medium range” and that Flewitt said is “capable of covering most urban journeys.”
Set to launch in the first half of next year, this camouflaged prototype doesn’t look to depart from the usual Macca styling cues, but we’ll need to wait and see it in full before casting judgement on the car’s appearance.
