Morgan hybrid cars are supposed to be the new fuel economy leaders, but then McLaren comes out with this, the P1.
This is a car I first saw as a concept of the last year's Paris Auto Show and then I expected it would probably just have McLaren's 3.8L turbocharged V8.
That's a really powerful engine
and it's MP4-12C model.
This car has that, but it also has an electric drive system.
The total drive system engine and motor combine debut 903 horsepower and 664 pound feet of torque.
Now, that's good for 0 to 62 miles per hour under 3 seconds and it has a top speed of 270 miles per hour, although McLaren says they actually electronically limited that.
Along with those really high speeds and great acceleration, it also
can do really good fuel economy.
This car will go 12 miles under electric power at about 30 miles per hour.
McLaren says that's good for-- if you're in a zero emission zone inside a city or just general urban driving where you don't wanna be using all that power.
A hybrid drive system allows what McLaren calls its instant power assist system.
There's a little button on the steering wheel.
You push that and that gives you all the power this can give and that's where you get your acceleration.
It also has
what McLaren calls the drag reduction system or DRS.
That's a big wing on the back of the car.
That's actually an automatic wing where it will lift up to provide maximum downforce if you're racing or it will settle back and lessen the downforce if you just wanna get good fuel economy and better electric range.
Now, you won't see too many of these cars on the roads because McLaren says they're only building 375 of them and at a price of $1.3 million each, not many people will be able to afford one.
I'm Wayne Cunningham here at the 2013 Geneva Auto Show.
