McLaren is a brand known for its hypercars and the company is considering the idea of switching over to electric motors. However, they are concerned about EVs being not as powerful as gasoline engines which has triggered the company to build a prototype electric vehicle to confirm whether it is possible to achieve the same results.

While the question of trying to find buyers for a EV is an altogether different scenario, McLaren is working on an electric motor and pushing its limits to achieve what the brand is known for. The P1 is out of the race while the P1 GTR is fading off paving way for the new Ultimate series. Speaking at the Geneva motor show, the company’s boss confirmed that they don’t have plans to launch an ultimate series in the near future.

The brand is also sure that replacing the retired P1 is not an easy task and it might take another decade for them to find a car worthy to be called the P2 or something similar. The engineers at McLaren are slowly reducing the number of cylinders being used in the conventional V8 engine. They predict that soon a huge engine will be developed without cylinders which will pave way for the electric motors eventually. It’s all a matter of time and hybrids are said to be the stepping stone.

McLaren plans to use gasoline powered engines as a minority partner while electric motors will take over. Eventually, once the electric ones are powerful enough to get the hypercar running delivering the same top speed and acceleration, the automobile manufacturer will get rid of the combustion engines completely.

However, the company’s CEO Mike Flewitt opined that it is going to be a long process and may take years before the final goal is achieved.

“We do opine that making an electric vehicle is kind of simple because components are readily available and packaging is easy. However, it’s about using an electric motor which should be capable of delivering the same experience as a P1 GTR. In case, if it is unable to deliver what the McLaren brand is known for, then the idea falls flat. We are experimenting and trying to find what the future holds for us,” said Flewitt.

From the speech, McLaren is on the right path and it is obvious that creating hypercars using batteries is a far cry, at least for now. Things might change in the next four years when the entire auto industry switches to hybrids and EVs.