McLaren Says Its Electric Supercar Needs To Last 30 Minutes On Track | Feature

McLaren is pushing forward with its plans for an all-electric supercar but is in no rush to build the vehicle until battery technology improves.

During a recent interview with Automotive News at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt said the company’s electric supercar’s battery needs to last at least half an hour when driven in anger on the track.

“We’ve set ourselves half an hour full-on track use. You need to be able to do that without recharge, and when you come in and recharge it needs to recharge in 30 minutes,” he said.

“As it stands at the moment, we don’t think the battery technology will be ready until 2025 to give us what we want in terms of performance. A McLaren EV has got to be usable. It shouldn’t be that we offer a powertrain solution that compromises. It won’t just be lower emissions, it’ll be a better sports car.”

Electrification is coming and there’s nothing you can do about it.

This vehicle will serve an important role in the electrification of McLaren’s models. In fact, by 2025, all of McLaren’s vehicles will feature hybrid powertrains to boost performance and comply with tighter emission standards across the globe.

According to Flewitt, the British automaker’s push towards electrification does indeed come in response to legislation changes.

“China is very aggressive about emission standards. The world is going in that direction. I think legislation will drive us in that direction, and we need to be ready. The only way we can meet emission standards at the performance we want is to be hybrid. There’s no other way.”

One of the first models in this hybrid fleet will be the Speedtail. Flewitt recently confirmed that it will deliver more than 987 hp. Not only will the Speedtail be the marque’s most powerful car, it will also be capable of speeds exceeding 243 mph (391 km/h), edging out the F1 as the fastest McLaren road car.