Since at least 2022, when Michael Leiters joined as CEO, McLaren Automotive has been exploring the possibility of an SUV, and now he has revealed some details about the potential route for a McLaren SUV.
In an interview with Road & Track published on Wednesday, Leiters indicated that the company could expand its portfolio with a “shared performance vehicle,” which R&T interpreted to mean an SUV due to its size being sufficient to share performance with other passengers. He also mentioned that the development might involve a technology partner that could supply a suitable platform.
He also hinted that the vehicle could end up being a plug-in hybrid instead of an electric vehicle. Rumors of an electric SUV first emerged after McLaren entered the Extreme E electric off-road racing series in 2022.
“If we do a (plug-in hybrid), we want to understand if we can use our own powertrain,” he told Road & Track. “Integrating our powertrain into an existing platform—this would be the ideal scenario.”
With Leiters, McLaren is well poised to launch an SUV. Before joining McLaren, he served as Ferrari's chief technology officer, where he helped develop the Purosangue. He also previously worked at Porsche, where he contributed to the development of multiple generations of the Cayenne.
Leiters also revealed in the interview that McLaren is developing an electric supercar purely as a precaution in case the market demands it. The main issue, he said, relates to the heavy weight of batteries, although he expressed confidence that the company can reduce the weight of an electric supercar to around a target of 3,300 pounds, which is the same as the current Artura plug-in hybrid supercar.
However, he previously stated that the technology to deliver a lightweight electric supercar that can also perform decently on the racetrack would not be ready until 2030, meaning the wait for such a car might be a long one. This is likely not a concern for McLaren, as even the head of electric vehicle technology company Rimac, Mate Rimac, mentioned just last month that there isn't much demand for electric supercars.
In the meantime, McLaren will focus on expanding its core range of gasoline and plug-in hybrid supercars. McLaren is also developing a next-generation V-8 designed for hybrid applications, one of which is rumored to be a successor to the P1.
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