McLaren P1 successor won't be an EV

The McLaren P1 hypercar took advantage of a petrol-electric hybrid powerplant and its successor was rumoured to be a full electric car.

But it now appears that McLaren is developing two separate vehicles for the next-generation 'Ultimate Series' category, of which the P1 (pictured) was the sole inhabitant before production ended in late 2015.

"By the end of this [Track 22] business plan by 2022 two things will happen: At least 50 per cent of our cars will have some sort of hybrid tech by that point," McLaren's Global Corporate Communication Manager, Duncan Forrester, revealed to motoring.com.au at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK.

"That's one side. The other side is that we will build – and we've started it – an all-electric supercar within the Ultimate Series family. Not a P1 successor, but a P1-genre type car,"

It won't be world's first exotic EV supercar though.

Croatian innovator Rimac has already developed a blistering 365km/h beast dubbed the Concept_S. It has four electric motors that, combined, develop a mind-melting 1100kW and 1800Nm.

Nevertheless, McLaren must develop a hard-core EV supercar "because we have to understand what the future of EVs might be," says Forrester.

"We have to be pragmatists and realists and understand that at some point we are all going to be driving EVs.

"The USP of this brand is all about delivering active driver engagement, passion, noise, and today an electric car is a milk float.

"That's the challenge we've set the engineers – if electric is the future at some point, how do you deliver a car that's got all the passion and engagement and noise and flair that a car like the P1 has, but with a fully electric powertrain?"

Meanwhile, development for the replacement of the rear-drive P1 – a 543kW beast that hit 100km/h in 2.8 seconds and 300km/h in just 16.5 seconds! – is only just starting.

"There will be a successor to the P1. But because of the type of car and the nature of the P1, it'll come along when we have the next quantum shift in technology," said Forrester.

"That's the role of an Ultimate Series car -- it's a showcase of technology."

McLaren is only "just starting to scope what that next car could be", said Forrester, suggesting development is at an embryonic stage at present.

Expected to cost around $2 million when it is completed, the P1 successor is not a short-term project and could be at least five years away.

"If the technology doesn't come along for five years, we won't build another [P1 replacement] car for five years. And it's not necessarily engine technology. It could light-weighting technology, it could be supercharging technology, who knows what."

Like many halo cars within low-volume sports car companies, the P1 successor won't necessarily adhere to same profitability scale as volume models like the 570S and 650S from the Sports Series and Super Series tiers.

"What value do you put on the halo of a brand? You can't put a price on that. There's no doubt that a car like the P1 adds a huge amount to the McLaren brand, and continues to do even since its ceased production," said Forrester.

"It means not everything is done for money. We spend our money wisely. We don't have a rich parent company to fall back on. We're not like Rolls-Royce who have BMW, or Lamborghini who can fall back on Volkswagen.

"Everything we do is self-funded. It's funded through revenue. It's not funded through going cap-in-hand to shareholders saying 'we need more cash please'.

"Because of the very nature of an Ultimate Series car, it's going to be an expensive car to develop, whatever that new special technology is going to be."