Will McLaren be using a new lightweight vehicle architecture?

Last month, McLaren Automotive – via the company’s CEO, Mike Flewitt – announced that the company’s next generation of electrified supercars would be underpinned by a brand-new vehicle architecture that is both flexible and lightweight. The new architecture has been designed with the specific purpose of housing hybrid powertrains in mind. It was completely built in-house at McLaren Composites Technology Centre located in the Sheffield region of the UK. McLaren engineers have utilized several new processes and techniques that are not only innovative but firsts across the world. These new processes helped the automaker build a safer chassis that is also more lightweight.

[ READ MORE: about McLaren’s current hybrid vehicle: the 2020 Speedtail ]

“The new ground-breaking vehicle architecture is every bit as revolutionary as the MonoCell chassis we introduced with the company’s first car, the 12C, when we first embarked on making production vehicles a decade ago. This new, ultra-lightweight carbon fibre chassis boasts greater structural integrity and higher levels of quality than ever before with our new MCTC facility quickly becoming recognised as a global centre of excellence in composite materials science and manufacturing. Our advanced expertise in light weight composites processes and manufacturing combined with our experience in cutting-0edge battery technology and high-performance hybrid propulsion systems means we are ideally placed to deliver to customers levels of electrified high-performance motoring that until now have simply been unattainable. For us, light-weighting and electrification go hand-in-hand to achieve better performance as well as more efficient vehicles.”

– Mike Flewitt, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Automotive

Why are we so excited about this?

There are a ton of reasons to get excited about this news. First of all, anything new is exciting, especially when it comes to the McLaren Automotive brand of vehicles. But more than that, this announcement isn’t just about there being a new chassis for McLaren vehicles. The big news is that the automaker plans on building even more electrified supercars like the 2020 McLaren Speedtail. They even confirmed that the first new McLaren hybrid supercar will launch sometime during the 2021 calendar year, built onto this exciting new architecture.

We’re absolutely stoked about the next generation of McLaren Automotive vehicles as the company enters its second decade as a production automaker. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on these new vehicles as information becomes available, so be sure to check back often right here on the McLaren Chicago blog!