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McLaren Mulls Hybrid All-Wheel-Drive System
McLaren Automotive Ltd. is considering a hybrid-electric all-wheel-drive system to better handle the increasing output of its future supercars.
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McLaren Automotive Ltd. is considering a hybrid-electric all-wheel-drive system to better handle the increasing output of its future supercars.
Conceding the company is “getting close to the (power) limit” for rear-wheel-drive setups, CEO Mike Flewitt says awd is a direction McLaren “may well want to go in.” But such a system still is a “way off” in the company’s production plans, Flewitt tells Car & Driver.
Flewitt says the hybrid system McLaren previously announced will be flexible enough to handle multiple configurations, including an electric motor that powers the front axle. The company, which produced the limited-edition 904-hp P1 hybrid supercar from 2013 to 2015, plans to launch a mainstream hybrid model in 2020 and offer hybrid systems in half its models by 2022.
To help reduce the weight of hybrid systems, McLaren is evaluating ways to mount the engine directly to the chassis and eliminate the rear subframe, an approach currently confined to race cars. Adapting the setup to a road car would require overcoming refinement challenges, Flewitt notes.
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