Hybrid McLaren hits 100km/h in 2.8 seconds

BRITAIN’S McLaren Automotive has confirmed that its dashing hybrid P1 supercar can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds, reach an electronically limited top speed of 350km/h and yet drinks just 8.3 litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy test cycle.

The details were revealed by the Woking company today as it delivered its first production P1 – painted bright yellow – to an unnamed customer in England.

Powered by a combination of 3.8-litre V8 petrol engine and electric motor with a combined 673kW of power and 900Nm of torque, the left-hand-drive-only P1 can hit 300km/h in 16.5 seconds – a full five seconds quicker than McLaren’s original F1 supercar – and then stop in just 6.2 seconds, thanks to carbon ceramic discs, coated in silicon carbide.

Despite its blistering performance, the plug-in hybrid P1 has green car credentials, with McLaren claiming it can cover 11km on electricity alone in certain conditions.

The P1 is constructed mainly of carbon fibre, starting with a one-piece chassis dubbed a MonoCage that weighs just 90kg. This is cloaked in seven lightweight panels, also fashioned from carbon fibre.

McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt said the McLaren P1 had been designed from the outset with one clear goal: to be the best driver’s car on road and track“The confirmation of the performance figures underlines this,” he said. “I am very proud of our Woking based team and everything they have achieved with this ambitious project.

“The handover of the first McLaren P1 is another milestone in our 50 year history.” The new P1 is significantly faster than McLaren’s current model, the MP4-12C, which does the 0-100km/h dash in 3.3 seconds. It is also less thirsty than the MP4-12C, which drinks a claimed 11.7L/100km.

However, at least the MP4-12C is built in left-hand drive and thus can be registered for the road in Australia, which the P1 cannot.

The first production P1, finished in Volcanic Yellow with contrasting carbon fibre, was collected from McLaren’s Technical Centre by its owner.

It apparently rolled off the production line at the end of September after being custom-built by the company’s 82 technicians in a four-stage assembly process.

McLaren says the P1 build takes 17 days, and once the factory is running at full capacity, one car will be completed each day.

Just 375 P1s will be built, with production due to run until mid-2015.