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McLaren, Toyota, Audi and Others Adapting E-Drive Technologies to Road and Track

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By Bill Moore

When I hear 'McLaren' I normally think of compact, powerful engines propelling screaming race cars around Formula 1 courses, not of street machines, but apparently they do them too and the newest model in the stable is the P1 pictured in the grayscale image above.

It is the first McLaren car to marry a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 gasoline (petrol) engine with an engine-block integrated electric motor developed by the firm's electronics arm. Together they produce 903 bhp, yet generate less than 200g/km of CO2 in combined cycle operation. This drops to zero when the car is operating in EV-mode. McLaren calls the mated drives IPAS for Instant Power Assist System.

Yes, you read that right: EV-mode. The McLaren P1 is, in fact, an electric hybrid with an electric-only driving range said to be in excess of 10 km (6 miles). Now that's not Chevy Volt-class range, but for a machine in this class, it's downright phenomenal.

For the moment, we don't know much more about the car in terms of pricing, availability, or top speed, though we have to assume it's somewhere around F1 numbers. Of course, this begs the question, where do it drive it that fast, safely that is? Presumably we'll learn more of those details at the 2013 Geneva Auto Show next month, but McLaren's announcement also coincides with other recent news from the racing world where hybrids and all-electric racing is starting to figuratively and literally 'gain traction.'

This story continues for EV World Premium subscribers and will be available to non-subscribers in EV World Insider Illustrated.

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