McLaren's first hybrid supercar previewed ahead of 2021 reveal
In the process, we must say goodbye to the McLaren Sports Series lineup of cars.
We can't wait to see it minus the camo.
Take it all in, supercar fans. This is your true first look at McLaren's next supercar, which it calls a "high-performance hybrid," and it effectively replaces the Sports Series range of cars. While we'll say goodbye to the 540C, 570S and 600LT range, McLaren has us hyped for the future with this car.
While the car's design remains covered in camouflage, McLaren was forthcoming about what will power the vehicle. The new heart is an electrified V6 engine, likely with some forced induction attached, and it will feature a purely electric driving mode. How far the electrification from the hybrid system will go, we don't know. But, if it can harvest or deploy enough energy to power the car purely on electricity for a period of time, don't expect a simple mild-hybrid system. At any rate, McLaren said the powertrain will deploy "astonishing levels of performance." We dig it.
Hopefully the new powertrain sounds just as good as the Sports Series' V8.
The new supercar isn't just about a hybrid V6 engine, though. McLaren also showed off the car's new architecture back in August that will underpin other hybrids to come. The platform will also allow the British automaker to transition to totally electric supercars when the time is right. Most importantly, the architecture cuts a lot of fat from the car, which McLaren will need if it wants to pack batteries and hybrid systems into a supercar. Hybrids aren't exactly dainty things.
We'll almost certainly learn more about the new supercar as we approach its debut in early 2021. Maybe it can help kick off 2021 far better than we rang in the year 2020.
