DETROIT — McLaren Automotive’s upcoming plug-in hybrid supercar will be based on a new, dedicated platform, said CEO Mike Flewitt.
Flewitt, in Detroit last week, said the car will launch toward the end of 2020.
The as-yet-unnamed vehicle will not be the automaker’s first hybrid, but the decision to create an integrated hybrid platform is a change from McLaren’s earlier hybrids, the P1 and the Speedtail, which were not on dedicated platforms.
“A new vehicle with a new platform — and that platform will provide the base for hybrid powertrains into the future,” Flewitt said of the vehicle.
“We’ve expanded pretty heavily in the last couple years to get there.”
This year, Flewitt told Automotive News that the hybrid will have an EV range of 25 to 30 miles.
Flewitt said the electronic architecture that surrounds the platform will come from two or three suppliers, which he wouldn’t identify. “A lot of it is dedicated to us,” he said.
While the hybrid will not debut at the Geneva auto show in March, Flewitt said the automaker will release more details in the spring before the vehicle launches.
“We want to be able to explain what we’re doing and why this technology is relevant and why we believe this is the future for supercars,” Flewitt said.
McLaren aims to have all of its models from its Sports and Super series be hybrids by 2025.