McLaren Automotive is in its final stages of development and test programs for its first series-production High-Performance Hybrid (HPH) supercar. The all-new supercar is due to launch in the first half of 2021, creating a new chapter of electrification for McLaren especially since they are just about to end the production of its Sports Series range.
The new HPH supercar will be the first McLaren that will built on a unique carbon fiber structure, known as the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The design raises McLaren’s pioneering lightweight chassis technologies to a new level, taking advantage of McLarens expertise in super-lightweight engineering.
The HPH supercar was designed, developed, and produced at the £50M state-of-the-art McLaren Composites Technology Center (MCTC) in Sheffield, UK; and the completely new structure will be the basis for the next McLaren hybrid supercars that will be entering the market in the next few years.
Featuring an all-new V6 internal combustion engine, the HPH powertrain produces extraordinary levels of performance and driver experience, along with producing medium-range EV-only drive capability.
“This all-new McLaren supercar is the distillation of everything we have done to date; all that we have learned and achieved. This is a new kind of McLaren for a new era, an extraordinary drivers’ car that offers blistering performance as well as an all-electric range capable of covering most urban journeys. We see this new McLaren as a true ‘next generation’ supercar and cannot wait to show it to customers.”
Mile Flewitt, McLaren Automative CEO
In the pursuit of the next-generation supercar, McLaren utilized all the technological skills in designing, developing, and constructing the most innovative and sought-after super-lightweight hypercars and supercars. Flewitt explains:
“For us, light-weighting and high-performance hybrid technology go hand-in-hand to achieve better performance as well as more efficient vehicles. Our expertise in lightweight composites and carbon fiber manufacturing, combined with our experience in cutting-edge battery technologies and high-performance hybrid propulsion systems, makes us ideally placed to deliver uncompromised levels of electrified high-performance driving that until now have simply been unattainable.”
The introduction of the HPH supercar will further cement McLaren’s presence in the supercar sector and the all-new hybrid supercar will be sitting between the GT and the 720S in range. The Sports Series designation, which was first introduced with the launch of the 570S in 2015, will stop production this year with the limited-run, GT4-inspired 620R as its last model.
[Source: McLaren]