McLaren to Ditch ICE by 2030

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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25th August 2020

Racing icon carmaker McLaren will end production of all ICE powertrains by 2030 pledging to a BEV future.

The British supercar manufacturer and doyen of the Formula One race series will be complying well ahead of the UK government’s brought-forward deadline to ban all ICE using powertrains in new vehicles sold by 2035. However, the Financial Times reports the automaker will be continuing development of hybrid powertrains for its hypercars for the next decade.

McLaren CEO, Mike Flewitt, told the FT: “We will be developing engines for the next ten years, selling for the next 15 years but we expect a lot of the world to be aligning around the 2035 date [for a full shift to electric cars].”

The automaker already has two performance hybrids in its range, the P1 and the Speedtail, and pledges that every major model launch from next year will be using a hybrid powertrain. It also promised to employ an increased use of domestically available parts taking the company above the 55% limited needed to comply with “rules of origin” in trade deals to avoid tariffs.

As with most automakers, the pandemic has seen it struggle financially and is expected to post a loss this year. Flewitt believes the luxury car market is unlikely to see a full recovering until 2023, telling the FT: “It’s really hard to call. This is a discretionary product [that] customers don’t have to buy this week, you can wait till next week, and so a lot of people are waiting for confidence to return.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_