McLaren's new architecture purpose-built for electrification

McLaren Automotive, which is moving toward a 100 percent electrified lineup, now has a next-generation architecture designed to support that effort.

At first glance, the central monocoque carbon-fiber tub, the key component of which the automaker builds its supercars around, looks similar to the underpinnings of other models in the lineup.

However, the British exotic automaker says the new architecture was developed "specifically to accommodate new hybrid powertrains." While specifications were not revealed, McLaren anticipates the new architecture will be lighter than others it has used.

The first McLaren hybrid to be based on the architecture will launch in 2021, the automaker said.

Last year, McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said the model will be a plug-in hybrid and told Automotive News that it will have an electric range of 25 to 30 miles.

While an integrated hybrid platform is new for McLaren, the as-yet-unnamed vehicle will not be the automaker's first hybrid. McLaren's earlier hybrids, the P1, which launched in 2013, and the Speedtail, which launched this year, were not on dedicated platforms.

The automaker said the new architecture was engineered and developed at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in Sheffield, England. The tubs will also be produced there and then will be transported 173 miles south, around three hours, to the McLaren Production Centre in Woking for vehicle assembly.