McLaren is a name synonymous with high-performance cars that guzzle petrol as if you own an oil field. Then again, people who are able to buy these supercars don’t really concern themselves with the price of gas. However, supercar makers are having to keep up with regulations and introduce cars that are more environment-friendly which is why we’ve been seeing some great advancements in hybrid technology, particularly in high-performance cars. McLaren has a rather ambitious goal of making almost half of all of its cars hybrid in just six years.
Speaking with Automotive News Europe, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said that the company is going to develop a new powertrain specifically for “hybridized application,” meaning that they will be better suited to hybrid cars. “In the latter part of this business plan to 2022, more than half our cars will be hybrids,” he added.
Agreeing with the fact that plug-in hybrid cars have several advantages, Flewitt prefers the convenience of traditional hybrids, he also confirmed that the company’s new powertrain is going to adhere to McLaren’s strict rules when it comes to a mid-engine configuration and the carbon-fiber architecture.
Flewitt is clear that this needs to be done in order to “meet emissions targets,” and feels that the only real solution to achieve that without clamping down on supercars altogether is by building better hybrid powertrains. McLaren’s existing high-performance hybrid, the P1, is a proper supercar through and through so the company’s fans need to worry about McLaren suddenly turning into gold car manufacturer.
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