McLaren Automotive knows how to make supercars and a recent job posting seems to indicate that the automaker is at least exploring the possibility of a hybrid model. This is in line with other leaders in the sports car industry as both Ferrari and Porsche currently have at least one hybrid variation of a sports car. Mercedes and perhaps even Toyota have electric supercars coming, which seems to state there’s a market for high-performance green cars.
McLaren previously listsed a job posting for a hybrid Senior Engineer and the latest is for an electrical engineer to work on the “concept, design and development of the electrical package and wiring system for a hybrid electric vehicle”. The firm recently revealed that it’s no longer going to be a one-vehicle automaker and plans on releasing five new vehicles over the next five years; chances are at least one will be powered by a hybrid system.
Purest will point out that the hybrids simply cannot match the raw power provided by a traditional setup and that’s fine. The hybrid McLaren wouldn’t likely be their top-tier model — that will probably be the the MP4-12C for quite a while — but rather a bit more modest supercar possibly aligned with the Ferrari 599 HY-KERS. It also likely has something to do with abiding by the latest CAFE fuel economy numbers, which requires a higher MPG across an automakers entire US lineup. After all, that’s why Ferrari is doing a hybrid: to protect their V12.
The auto industry is clearly shifting towards hybrids across the entire playing field. There will probably be point within the coming decade where they will become a majority powertrain as technology improves and restrictions increase.