An all-electric supercar? McLaren boss outlines the very real challenges

As the world of mobility accelerates towards electric power, the supercar segment remains a firm fortress that is unlikely to be invaded by battery technology any time soon. Supercars tend to play in their own elite league but with all the talk of vehicle emissions affecting climate change, even a niche clientele may eventually look at clean technology.

Purists shred at the idea of battery powering supercars of tomorrow. But many take solace from the fact that an all-electric supercar isn't becoming a reality in a rush. McLaren CEO Michael Leiters pegs the timeline to somewhere around 2030 and says there are certain special challenges that need to be addressed first.

Harldy anyone inquires about the mileage of a supercar but when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), range is the biggest concern, regardless of segment and price points. So will supercars offer a respectable range when the menacing Vs are replaced by battery? “Weight is super important, you need also the right range," Leiters told Bloomberg Television in a recent interview. "I don’t expect this technology to be ready for real supercars before the end of the decade."

McLaren has its priorities. And electric power does figure in the list, just not at the absolute top. "We don’t want to do an electric car which weighs two tons and then has 2,000 horsepower," he explains, adding that the eventual electric offering from his company would be around the 1,500 kilos.

But while electrics may be the talk of all towns, Leiters underlines that he expects hybrids to pave the way forward. The company remains confident of its Artura hybrid becoming a force to reckon with.

At present, McLaren is in a position of relative strength with sales across the world in the first six months of 2023 rising by 52 per cent over the same period of 2022. The propulsion primarily continues to come from North America and Europe but Middle-East region is also emerging as a very strong base.