The next generation of sports cars will be very different from what we have seen so far. We have experienced an evolution in design and performance that, without a doubt, has been interesting and to some extent exciting, and the sports cars of the future, or so future, will be something different. The first signs have already appeared, such as the goodbye to the market of the Audi R8 without replacement or the withdrawal of the Nissan GT-R from Europe.
These cars have left the market, to return as electric sports cars, fashionable technology, although an obligatory fashion, everything is said. Several manufacturers have announced the arrival of different electric sports cars, such as Audi, but also Lamborghini, Ferrari, and, of course, McLaren. They will not all arrive at the same time, but there is no doubt that they will lead the way for all those who come after and will be the center of attention, both from the media and from the manufacturers themselves.
We live in a moment that we could classify as tense. In a few years, electrical technology should be implemented and should be accepted like any other option, but here nothing seems to evolve as it should and the rumors that surround the network of networks anticipate changes in the regulations for 2035. However, At least for now, the river follows its course and manufacturers must meet the demands and market trends. Demands and trends that revolve around electrification, either partial or total.
At the moment, the most widespread is partial electrification, that is, hybridization, present in all brands to a greater or lesser extent. Some need to tighten a bit, like McLaren, but in general, hybridization is a logical step with more acceptance than total electrification. Even so, electric sports cars seem to have a place in the market, although in the most expensive and exclusive segment: Pininfarina Battista, Lotus Evija, Rimac Nevera, the Hispano-Suiza Carmen, the NIO EP9… and now, McLaren should be added. to the list, though for now, it’s all speculation.
Michael Leiters, CEO of McLaren, has been speaking to Autocar magazine about the possibility of an electric supercar at the company and he offered some interesting tidbits. On the one hand, something that has already become normal in the industry: electric cars are one of the pillars in the development of powertrains at McLaren, the other two are combustion engines and hybrids, technology that they intend to dominate the 90% of sales within five years.
However, although electricity is one of McLaren’s investment pillars, some things are still not convincing in the company, things like, for example, weight. According to Leiters “We don’t want to build a 2,000-kilo, 2,000-hp car, anyone can do that. We want to make a car that is comparable to the 750 weight-wise; we don’t need 2,000 hp. We’re working on concepts for that, we’re exploring that, and we have some really exciting ideas about it. But it has to surpass what we do with a combustion engine .” The thing is, Leiters doesn’t expect to see such a car, powered by electric technology, until the end of the decade at the earliest.
Another issue that no one seems to realize is that the demand for electric supercars is very low. Pagani, for example, said that no customer had yet demanded an electric and the same is true of McLaren: there is no demand for electric sports cars signed by the British. But also, Leiters left some comments that, perhaps, should make many think. The cars manufactured by McLaren are used little and for few kilometers, and it would be very difficult to offset, during the vehicle’s life cycle, the emissions generated during the manufacture of an electric car. For this reason, Leiters invites us to think about the circumstances and the environment in which decisions are made.
