The 2021 McLaren High-Performance Hybrid, the brand’s first series-production hybrid, has been simultaneously captured by our spy photographers and revealed in patent images.
The new model, which will sit between the 720S and the GT in the McLaren range, is being referred to by the company only as the High-Performance Hybrid.
McLaren has already released a couple of teasers of the new model, which will begin production in the first half of next year.
While the electrified McLaren is wearing little in the way of camouflage, curious souls who want to know what it looks like bereft of any disguise can look at these patent office images published by Automobile.
Its styling overall is an evolution of McLaren’s current generation design language, with side detailing similar to the 570S and tail lights reminiscent of the GT’s.
It’ll debut the new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture, developed and produced in the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in Sheffield.
MCLA, designed from the ground up to accommodate hybrid powertrains, will underpin other hybrid supercars “over the coming years”.
The hybrid supercar will be powered by an all-new V6 petrol engine and will offer a pure EV drive mode with “medium-range” capability.
“This is a new kind of McLaren for a new era, an extraordinary drivers’ car that offers blistering performance as well as an all-electric range capable of covering most urban journeys,” said McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt.
It’ll arrive shortly after McLaren ends production of its V8-powered Sports Series models as it transitions to hybrid V6s. Next year, the V8 McLaren range will consist only of the 720S, 765LT, Elva and GT.
McLaren has offered hybrid powertrains before but only in the extremely low-volume P1 and Speedtail, both of which employed twin-turbocharged V8 engines.
The British automaker isn’t the only one shifting to electrification.
Maserati will introduce an electric version of its new MC20 supercar promising a 0-100km/h time of 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 310km/h, while the new plug-in hybrid Ferrari SF90 Stradale mates a twin-turbocharged V8 engine with three electric motors for a total system output of 735kW of power and 800Nm of torque.
Honda also sells a high-performance hybrid of its own, the NSX. It mates a turbocharged 3.5-litre V6 engine with three electric motors and has a total system output of 427kW of power and 645Nm of torque.
