McLaren has told reporters that they have developed a fully-electric vehicle. The brand’s design director, Dan Parry-Williams, revealed that the reason behind the prototype was to work towards driver engagement in an all-electric environment. Of course, Dan reiterated that their journey from this prototype to their final product is still some time away.
McLaren is focused on understanding and working around how the battery tech/output will affect track driving vis-à-vis regular driving. “Let’s say you want to drive on track for half an hour. If it was an EV, the car would have over 500 miles of EV range, and it would be flat as a pancake at the end. The energy required to do really high performance on track is staggering. And then you have to recharge it.”
Dan disclosed that in the current scenario, the industry is fixed on batteries that provide exceptional range. And, ironically, it seems power-intense batteries (for performance driving) is still a long way off. On the whole, the batteries in an electric supercar will completely drain in just half an hour on the track. Until the time there’s a solution, McLaren will offer hybridization on its portfolio all the way up to the year 2022.
Picture: for representational purpose only
