Hybrid McLarens in two seconds

McLaren says it will only strap electric motors into its supercars to deliver another level of straight-line sprinting prowess – and to comply with city bans on internal-combustion power.

While it has no plans for a full-time hybrid production model, CEO Mike Flewitt last week admitted McLaren was thinking about hybrid power, but would only crack open the door to electric boosting at about 2.7 seconds.

“If we are going to start getting below 2.7 or 2.8-second 0-100km/h times, we are going to need more traction,” he said during an interview at the Geneva motor show.

“What we are working towards is a very large [percentage], if not 100 percent, of our cars eventually being hybridised.

“And hybridised cars can give you a level of EV range that can hopefully meet city limits for zero emissions but still give you the excitement of the cars we have today.”

Of course, McLaren has already produced a hybrid model. It built 375 versions of its P1 hypercar, with plug-in hybrid power, after its debut at the 2012 Paris motor show.

The McLaren P1 delivered 542kW of power and 720Nm of torque from its petrol V8 and another 131kW/260Nm from its electric motor, but even that car stubbornly remained rear-wheel drive.

“Looking at it [all-wheel drive], the plus is obviously the traction. If we did all-wheel drive, it would only be with an electrically-driven front axle.

“We will do 48 volts, one day. It’s not in the cars for the next couple of years, but it’s going to be important.”

While McLaren’s locked-in production plan already stretches out to 2023/24, Flewitt’s straight-line sprinting threshold for a boosted front axle is drawing perilously close, already.

McLaren’s own 720S supercar already rips to 100km/h in 2.8 seconds, with 530kW punching out to the rear wheels. The Senna, with an additional 58kW of power and requiring wheelbarrows more cash, claims the exact same 2.8-second sprint.

Outside of McLaren, Ferrari’s 488 Pista claims a 2.85-second sprint time, the fastest of the Bugatti Veyron breed managed it in 2.5 seconds and Tesla claims its second-generation Roadster will break the 2sec barrier. (But then Tesla claims a lot of things.)

“I only really want to do it if it’s going to be a better sports car,” insisted Flewitt.

“Traction would be good. Traction in low-grip conditions would be good, wet weather would be good, cold surfaces would be good, out of slower corners would be good,” he admitted.

“Electrically-driven, you can switch it in and switch it out, so you’re not using it when you don’t want it. And there would be more regeneration for the battery.”

But he predicted the technology had some downsides that some McLaren customers might not embrace.

“There is a list of good things and on the other side of the page there is another list,” he insisted.

“Weight, cost, complexity. What’s it going to do to braking feel? What’s it going to do to steering feel?

“And we have got to find a way through all of that and see if for some models -- probably wouldn’t be everything -- but if for some models at a time it was an appropriate thing to do.

“I wouldn’t rule it out. We are looking at it but we haven’t got a planned application for it.”

But for someone who initially suggested he hadn’t given electrical assistance too much thought, it was clear that he’d given it an awful lot of thought.

“There are two different applications. If we develop the 570 GT and say it’s a very usable car everyday, then it could have an application there.

“Then for a car that wanted to set extreme performance figures, there could be an application. I can see both answers there.

“But if you wanted a car that just had pure feel, you wouldn’t want it,” Flewitt warned.

All this makes more intriguing the question of what will power McLaren’s three-seat BP23 hypercar, more details of which were revealed last week – after we spoke to Flewitt at Geneva.

Along with more teaser pics (pictured here), McLaren confirmed the BP23 will exceed 243mph (391km/h) when it goes on sale in 2019, making it faster than the legendary McLaren F1 supercar of the 1990s.

No acceleration claims have yet been made for the BP23, which will be revealed later this year, but it’s expected to come with an advanced hybrid powertrain that combines the car-maker’ latest 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 with an updated version of the firm’s Instant Power Assist System (IPAS).

In the P1, at least, IPAS acted like an F1-style KERS electric power unit that boosted the turbo V8’s output by an additional 131kW/260Nm in an instant when required.

So expect the BP23’s outputs to dwarf the P1’s 643kW/750kW, which should be enough for the three-seater to come close to a two-second 0-100km/h time.