Hybridisation will only "enhance" McLaren performance, says exec

McLaren’s plan to hybridise almost every model it produces by 2025 will only enhance the British marque’s performance and reputation, according to a senior executive.

In Australia this week to launch the new 600LT – ironically, an entirely internal combustion offering – McLaren Asia Pacific managing director George Biggs said customers or the public shouldn’t be wary of electrification.

“We’ve been very clear about hybridisation -- it’s all about increasing performance and driver engagement and experience. It’s not about replacing anything necessarily, it’s about how we can enhance that experience,” he said.

McLaren has bold plans for electrification and, generally speaking, for a model proliferation program under its Track25 strategy recently announced at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Woking (UK)-based car-maker will launch the hybrid Speedtail later this year, strictly limited to 106 units, however, the rollout of hybrid models within its regular series cars is less clear.

Asked when we will see the first of the ‘garden-variety’ hybrids, Biggs said coyly: “in the future”.

“It’s a case of us developing the technology and bringing it to market. It takes time naturally but it also takes time because we’re obviously looking at how we can increase performance. Once we’ve hit that mark, where the market is ready and the technology is ready, then we bring it in.”

At the 600LT launch in Hungary last week (look out for our embargoed review on September 26), McLaren engineers suggested that some models in the company’s Ultimate Series may arrive without hybridisation – even beyond 2025.

Weight is still issue for EV and hybridised sports cars. The company says a battery EV McLaren would need to weigh in excess of 2000kg using current technology. That’s not a parameter McLaren’s engineers are keen swallow.

Citing the 600LT as an example, Biggs explained how the company champions weight reduction as much, or indeed more than, power boosts.

“I’m always amazed at what our engineers are capable of. To be able to strip 100kg out of the 570S [to create the 600LT] is a phenomenal achievement,” he said.

“It’s not always about power, it’s about weight and it’s about dynamic feel. In terms of performance, you’ll see that 0-100km/h times are very similar among a lot of the manufacturers now. For McLaren, it’s the 0-200km/h time where we really excel because we’re about light weight and we’ve got good aero.

“As we go through that process it’s not going to be about singular metrics anymore. It’s going to be about multiple metrics that allow you to have the best experience,” Biggs explained.