P1’s 903bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain was ahead of its time when it was unveiled in 2012
“The next benchmark” is set to stick with hybrid power and is just days away
McLaren will reveal the next instalment in its Ultimate Series of hypercars on 6 October, just over a decade after the P1 arrived as the succeessor to the 240mph F1.
A video published by the company features those two hallowed hypercars and reveals that “the next benchmark” is inbound.
The new car is anticipated to take advantage of the developments made with electrification since the P1 was launched 12 years ago. McLaren has said on numerous occasions that there would need to be a generational change in technologies to justify a new ‘1’ car.
With a pure-electric McLaren supercar understood to still be some years off, this next ‘1’ hypercar is set to stick with a high-output hybrid powertrain that will no doubt comfortably outpace the 903bhp P1.
McLaren chief Michael Leiters last year told Autocar that the company was “not sure” on electric supercars yet because of their weight at present.
“We don’t want to make a car that is 2000kg and 2000hp – anybody can do that,” said Leiters. “We want to make a car that is comparable to the 750 weight-wise.”
Such a car will be possible “maybe at the end of the decade”, he added.
