Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, August 14 (Xinhua)-- the McLaren P1 supercar, launched in 2012 with a hybrid system, is the brand's second flagship model after the McLaren F1 in 1992. Due to technological developments and environmental changes, McLaren plans to launch a P1 successor by the end of the decade, which will be powered entirely by electric power.

Michael Leiters, president of McLaren, said in an interview that a new electric supercar is being developed, but no details have been determined. "We are busy, yes," he said. " He revealed that electric vehicles are one of the three pillars of McLaren's future powertrain development, and the other two are internal combustion engines and hybrids. He estimates that electric models will account for 90% of McLaren's sales in the next five years.

Leiters said that electric supercars still face weight and performance challenges. "We don't want to build a car that weighs 2000 kilograms and has 2000 horsepower-anyone can do that, but that doesn't fit McLaren's DNA," he said. We want to build a car as heavy as the 750S (a supercar with a V8 internal combustion engine). We don't need 2000 horsepower. We are exploring the concept of this, and we have a lot of exciting ideas, but it has to be better than the cars we now make with internal combustion engines. " He points out that "better" refers not only to pure power or performance data, but also to vehicle handling and flexibility.

Leiters expects the electric supercar to be launched "by the end of the decade". On how the model will be positioned-hypercar or supercar, he said: "overall, I think the best way to introduce new technology is from top to bottom." This means that there may be some innovative lightweight measures and battery hardware seeping down from top models into McLaren's more "mainstream" product line.

Although McLaren is working on electric cars, no customer has expressed demand for it yet. Asked if any McLaren owners asked to buy an electric car, Leiters said: "No, but we have to be careful." "Times are changing and we have to be ready for a new era," he said. The success of the 750S shows that our customers like internal combustion engine cars, but there may be other customers who are interested in other things. "

In addition, Leiters welcomed the EU's proposal to allow cars powered by e-fuel, a renewable fuel, to continue to be sold.

CTOnews.com noted that McLaren had previously announced that it would launch a series of V8 hybrid sports cars before launching any all-electric model. The company announced earlier this year that it had renewed its agreement with Ricardo, an engine supplier from Sussex, to build a new V8 engine that would lay the foundation for the electric transmission system in a "lightweight, high-performance hybrid supercar".

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.