McLaren Hopes It Won't Have to Go Full EV One Day

McLaren hopes it can continue producing cars with an internal combustion engine for a long time to come.

Company CEO Mike Flewitt acknowledged in a recent interview with Top Gear that the storied British manufacturer will probably one day be forced to produce electric cars only, but it’s clear that he hopes it’s not anytime soon.

“I suspect – I couldn’t give you a day – we will be EV one day,” he told the publication, later adding “I hope it doesn’t become that you have to be 100 per cent EV. I hope we can have a range of cars, but who knows.”

The company currently produces a range of twin-turbocharged V8 supercars and will eventually be legislated into making its high-performance vehicles hybrid as well. This won’t be an issue for McLaren, it’s already put a hybrid supercar on the road in the way of the P1, but it also recognizes the difficulties that EVs present.

“The technology coming through is challenging,” Flewitt told TG. “I’m really confident in the team we have, that we can develop that technology, but the one that gives me most concern is pure EV.”

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To McLaren, EVs lack emotion – a problem for a manufacturer whose business hinges on excitement. They are also heavy, but unlike the emotional aspect, that’s an issue it believes it can solve quite easily. There’s a McLaren 12C with an electric powertrain running around somewhere already, Flewitt said, so the full electric operation is already underway, albeit in a very early stage.

Thankfully, it should be a long time before McLaren will be forced into making EVs only. Don’t forget it’s next car will be the aptly named Speedtail, a McLaren F1-inspired three-seat supercar with a central driving position and a top speed of over 243 mph. It will also have over 1,000 hp on tap – likely from a twin-turbo V8 hybrid setup of some sort. So yeah, this is a company that won’t be producing anything without a combustion engine if it doesn’t need to.

[Source: Top Gear]
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