McLaren moves to all-electrified by 2026

Like many exotic brands that built empires on powerful combustion engines, McLaren Automotive now finds itself idling at a crossroad.

McLaren is adapting to a new environmentally conscious era, where gas-guzzling V-12s are viewed as anachronisms. The British marque seeks to transition to a 100 percent electrified portfolio by 2026, with the first full-electric model expected by the end of the decade.

In November, McLaren expects to begin deliveries of a new plug-in hybrid model — the Artura, a $229,500-plus hypercar at the vanguard of a wave of McLarens that sacrifice emissions, not performance. It is the first vehicle on the company's carbon lightweight architecture, the first McLaren to feature a V-6 engine and the first model to offer a batch of advanced driver-assistance technology.

Most of McLaren's launches that follow will be plug-in hybrids.

"This is the future for the next 10 or 15 years of supercars," McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt told Automotive News. "The sooner we learn how to get all the benefits that come with a hybrid powertrain, the more we can enjoy them."

570S: McLaren's entry-level model, which debuted in 2015, will not continue. About 8,500 units were sold globally.

620R: McLaren's street-legal version of the 570S GT4 race car has a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine with 611 hp and 457 pound-feet of torque. The 620R shares aerodynamic hardware with the 570S GT4, creating 408 pounds of downforce at 155 mph. The car features a large rear wing, lowered suspension, carbon-ceramic brakes and center-locking wheels.

McLaren built 225 units of the 620R, of which about 70 were allocated to the U.S. The 620R was the last of the Sports Series, which has ended.

GT: For the 2022 model year, McLaren adds extra equipment, such as carbon-ceramic brakes, a nose lift and heated seats, as standard.

The grand tourer will be freshened in 2023, bringing upgraded engine performance and minor design tweaks. A redesign follows in 2025.

Artura: The plug-in hybrid supercar introduces McLaren's carbon lightweight architecture and combines a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine — the first in a McLaren — with an electric motor and a 7.4-kilowatt-hour battery pack.

The powertrain delivers a combined output of 671 hp and can propel the sports car from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds. The Artura has a top speed of 205 mph and can travel up to 19 miles in EV-only mode.

U.S. deliveries of McLaren's newest model are due to start shortly after being delayed twice. The original October 2020 market launch was postponed until June because of the pandemic, then software supplier- related issues pushed deliveries to November.

720S: With coupe, convertible and high-performance variants rolled out, the 720S likely won't receive a freshening until 2023 at the earliest.

765LT: The high-performance and lightweight variant of the 720S debuted last year. The 765LT is powered by a twin-turbo V-8 engine with 755 hp and 590 pound-feet of torque, compared with the standard 720S' 710 hp and 537 pound-feet of torque.

A 765LT convertible, with a retractable hard top, arrives in the fourth quarter. McLaren will build 765 units globally.

Elva: The newest addition to McLaren's top-tier Ultimate Series is the Elva roadster. Power is supplied by a twin-turbocharged V-8 with 804 hp.

Soft demand for the niche model, combined with pandemic-related supply chain issues, caused McLaren to reduce the Elva's production run to 149 units from 399. At least two-thirds of the run has been sold so far. Deliveries began in the first quarter.

Speedtail: McLaren's fastest production car zoomed into U.S. stores in early 2021. It is also McLaren's longest, stretching nearly 17 feet from nose to tail. The three-seat hybrid hypercar is powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 mated to an electric drive unit, which, combined, puts out up to a thunderous 1,055 hp. The 106-unit run sold out before production began.

Plug-in hybrid: The successor to the P1, likely to be a plug-in hybrid, is in the design stage and could arrive in 2024. It will be the latest in the Ultimate Series line.