McLaren teases new V6-powered hybrid

MCLAREN Automotive has released the first teaser images of its all-new hybrid supercar, which will mark a new chapter for the high-performance brand when it launches locally in the first half of next year.

Not only will the new supercar (dubbed High-Performance Hybrid, or HPH) feature a raft of new technologies, it will also mark the end of the Super Sport line-up of cars, which currently includes the 540C, 570S and 600LT.

Instead, the HPH will bridge the gap between the GT and the Super Series line of models that starts with the 720S, while the limited-run, track-honed 620R will be the last Sport Series model from McLaren.

The headline act of the all-new model is its powertrain, which introduces the first V6 petrol engine offered on a modern McLaren, which will be paired with some form of hybridisation, most likely a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) set-up.

Like other McLarens, the engine will be mounted mid-ship behind the cabin, and will mark the first series-production hybrid for the brand – the super-exclusive P1 and Speedtail hybrids did not count as a series-production vehicle.

Without announcing any specific details of the powertrain, the hybrid set-up will most likely be a PHEV like the P1, given that it will feature a pure-EV drive mode.

McLaren says the new powertrain will offer “medium-range” EV drive capability, to go with high levels of performance from the V6.

The other key feature for the HPH is that it will be underpinned by the all-new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), which has been optimised for hybrid vehicles and latest-generation tech.

Set to underpin a whole new generation of hybrid offerings for the brand including a P1 replacement due in 2024, the lightweight, carbon-fibre MCLA was designed, developed and produced at the brand’s McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the UK.

As for design, the camouflaged new model looks unmistakably McLaren with a headlight arrangement that looks like an evolution of the current 570S, and a mid-engined coupe silhouette with prominent air intakes at the front of the rear haunches.

At the rear, a high-set dual-exit exhaust system features with a mesh rear bumper and sizeable carbon-fibre diffuser.

Details of the model and powertrain will be uncovered when the vehicle is revealed – McLaren has not set a date for the unveiling, only saying that the HPH is in its final stages of testing.

To the end of September, McLaren has sold 48 combined vehicles, marking a 29.4 per cent downturn on the 68 it managed to the same point last year.