Automakers big and small are rethinking their electrification plans. Some have delayed launches of new products, while others are shifting development resources to hybrids. The industry is in an awkward transition that has McLaren taking a leisurely approach to electric vehicles.
The company’s new CEO, Nick Collins, told The Drive in a recent interview that the automaker isn’t rushing to launch an EV, even if he can envision the company introducing one at some point.
"Are we in a hurry to do one? No," he told the publication.
That’s not to say electrification is taboo in Woking. The automaker has the Artura hybrid, which pairs a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine with an electric motor. It’s also going to put a hybrid V-8 in the upcoming W1 hypercar, but we’ll have to wait for a full-blown McLaren EV.
Development has allegedly already begun. The previous CEO revealed last year that McLaren had assembled an engineering program, but it still had "a lot" left to be done. The British automaker had announced plans to go fully electric by the end of the decade, but like others, it has rethought that position.
Collins added that the "internal combustion is going to play the majority role of this brand for a really long period of time."
McLaren isn’t the only automaker taking a tepid approach to launching its first electric vehicle. Lamborghini revealed late last year that it would delay its EV by a year, which will now arrive in 2029.
Audi was preparing to phase out combustion cars by 2032, with plans to launch its final gas-powered vehicles in 2026, but the company has reversed course. It now plans to produce gasoline engines for at least another 10 years, or longer.
There’s also a trend of high-end buyers shunning expensive electric vehicles, a trend noticed by Rimac CEO Mate Rimac. He blamed the regulations that are “pushing stuff on us that we don’t want.”
With federal tax incentives drying up in the United States and uncertainty growing, automakers are seriously considering their futures.
If high-end buyers have already tired of performance electric vehicles, McLaren has little incentive to rush to compete in that space. Gasoline is sticking around longer than anticipated, and McLaren will want to capitalize on that.
