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McLaren's all-new High-Performance Hybrid supercar enters final stages of testing


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6 Oct 2020

  • ‘Next-generation’ High-Performance Hybrid (HPH) supercar will be introduced in first half of 2021
  • McLaren’s first series-production hybrid features all-new V6 petrol engine and pure EV road driving mode
  • All-new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA) pioneers a new age for McLaren advanced flexible chassis design
  • High-Performance Hybrid powertrain and race-honed agility ensure trademark McLaren track performance
  • McLaren Sports Series designation ends this year with exclusive, limited-run 620R completing production

The first series-production High-Performance Hybrid (HPH) supercar from McLaren Automotive has entered the final stages of its development and test programmes, which includes running on public roads.  Due to launch in the first half of 2021, the all-new supercar will open a new era of electrification for McLaren following the end of production of its Sports Series range.

The all-new, supercar will be the first McLaren built on a new carbon fibre structure, christened McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). Optimised for High-Performance Hybrid powertrains and latest-generation driver technologies, the architecture elevates McLaren’s pioneering lightweight chassis technologies to new heights, exploiting the company’s advantage in super-lightweight engineering – a benefit that has its roots in the brand’s motorsport origins.

Designed, developed and produced in the UK at the £50m state-of-the-art McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) in Sheffield region, the all-new flexible structure will underpin the next generation of McLaren hybrid supercars coming to market over the coming years.

The High-Performance Hybrid powertrain, which features an all-new V6 internal combustion engine, delivers astonishing levels of performance and a uniquely intense driver experience, as well as providing 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,” commented Mike Flewitt, CEO, McLaren Automotive. “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.”

McLaren’s all-new, ‘next-generation’ supercar draws on all of the technological expertise in designing, developing and building the world’s most innovative and desirable, super-lightweight hypercars and supercars.

“For us, light-weighting and high-performance hybrid technology go hand-in-hand to achieve better performance as well as more efficient vehicles,” explained Flewitt. “Our expertise in lightweight composites and carbon fibre 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 all-new hybrid supercar will sit between the GT and the 720S in the McLaren range and its introduction will further strengthen the company’s presence in the supercar sector. The Sports Series designation – introduced in 2015 with the launch of the 570S – ceases from the end of this year with the limited-run, GT4-inspired 620R the last model produced.

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Ends

Notes to editors:

A selection of high resolution images accompanying this release is available to download from the McLaren Automotive media site – cars.mclaren.press

About McLaren Automotive:

McLaren Automotive is a creator of luxury, high-performance supercars.

Every vehicle is hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey, England.

Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group.

The company’s product portfolio of GT, Supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models are retailed through over 85 retailers in 40 markets around the world.

McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1.

Then in 1993  it designed and built the McLaren F1 road car - the company has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis since. As part of the Ultimate Series, McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1™.

2019 saw McLaren launch the 600LT Spider as well as the new GT, the track-only Senna GTR and unveiled the 620R and the McLaren Elva.

In 2020, McLaren launched the 765LT. In addition, it unveiled the all-new lightweight architecture innovated and manufactured at the £50m McLaren Composites Technology Centre opened in the Sheffield region in the North of England that will underpin the next decade of McLaren’s electrified future.

To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative sportscars and supercars, McLaren Automotive partners with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise, technology and solutions. These include AkzoNobel, Ashurst, Dell Technologies, Pirelli,  Richard Mille and Tumi.

McLaren Group:
The McLaren Group is a global leader in luxury automotive and technology and comprises three businesses: Automotive, Racing and Applied.