McLaren's CEO has announced he is in no rush to build an EV

McLaren’s CEO Nick Collins has said McLaren is in no rush to build an all-electric vehicle and that ICE vehicles will be around for a ‘really long’ time.

McLaren launched its first-ever hybrid supercar, the P1, more than a decade ago. 

But when it comes to introducing an all-electric, the carmaker isn’t in a hurry. 

McLaren’s CEO said that he sees internal combustion engines playing the ‘majority role’ way into the future. 

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McLaren’s CEO Nick Collins says combustion engines are sticking around

Last year, former McLaren CEO Michael Leiters said the marque was ‘working intensively on a pure electric powertrain’ and that he believed ‘the first EV supercar will be a McLaren’. 

However, a little over a year on and with a new CEO in place, it seems McLaren is headed in a different direction. 

In an interview with The Drive, McLaren’s CEO Nick Collins said that while he does think the marque will launch an EV ‘at some point’, it won’t be anytime soon. 

“Frankly, the world’s changing at very different paces with different regulatory environments,” Collins said. 

“China’s moving rapidly towards EVs, and the US isn’t. Europe and UK are currently in different spaces. And let’s see if those spaces they’re currently in hold the test of time as well. 

“Unmistakably, internal combustion is going to play the majority role of this brand for a really long period of time.

“Could I envision an EV at some point? Yes. Are we in a hurry to do one? No.”

In the meantime, McLaren is still embracing electrification, albeit alongside gas-powered engines.

The McLaren Artura, for example, has a hybrid powertrain combining an electric motor alongside a twin-turbo V6 engine and is the third hybrid offering from the carmaker. 

It’s not the only carmaker stepping away from EVs

McLaren isn’t the only marque that appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to electric vehicles. 

Lamborghini unveiled its Lanzador EV concept car back in 2023, and it was slated to go into production in 2028. 

However, it’s since been revealed that Lamborghini’s first-ever EV might not be an EV after all. 

And, much like McLaren, Lamborghini has said it plans to keep making gas-powered cars for as ‘as long as possible’ and thinks ICE vehicles still have a lot of potential.

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