cars news 10: We Hear: New All-Electric Model Will Join McLaren P1, Not Succeed it

A few months ago rumors suggested the McLaren P1 plug-in hybrid hypercar would be replaced by an all-electric variant that would set the bar in zero-emissions performance. Now, a report from Auto Express suggests the automaker has begun development on the new EV model and is shooting to have it ready by 2020.

The new report also claims the EV model will not replace the P1. Instead, it would slot below the P1 in McLaren’s Ultimate Series family with a price tag below $1 million.

Not surprisingly, McLaren has allegedly set some lofty performance targets for its EV hypercar. For starters, the automaker wants it to last 30 minutes on the track between charges. And the car shouldn’t need more than 30 minutes to fully recharge its batteries. It should be quick too, with acceleration times that match or beat the 675LT (that car ran to 60 mph in 3 seconds flat during our testing). Finally, a top speed surpassing 200 mph should help cement its place in McLaren’s Ultimate Series family.

McLaren also faces the challenges of keeping weight down, not an easy task with the amount of battery power needed to reach the automaker’s performance goals. Expect lots of ground-breaking construction techniques along with plenty of carbon fiber bits.

That said, the P1’s successor likely won’t come around for a while, perhaps for another seven years. McLaren, however, still has plenty of work to do in order to achieve its Track22 plan, which includes no fewer than 15 new models or variants between now and the end of 2022. A bulk of those new models will fall under the automaker’s entry-level Sport Series family (570S and 570GT) and the mid-level Super Series that includes the 650S and 675LT.

Source: Auto Express