KERS could be heading for a McLaren road car
A job advert on McLaren’s own website suggests that the company is developing hybrid technology for its forthcoming supercars. McLaren Automotive is looking for a senior engineer with specialist knowledge in hybrid powertrain technology to “lead the technical assessment, integration and application of appropriate hybrid powertrain technology”.
The first supercar to come out of the McLaren stable since the Mercedes-McLaren SLR will be a Ferrari F450 rival, codenamed P11. Since the P11 is expected to make its debut at the Los Angeles motor show later this year, it’s unlikely that it will feature much in the way of hybrid technology initially.
However, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said that he wants the firm to aim for 4000 sales a year by 2015 and a further two models are said to be under development.
Combine that with the fact that McLaren is looking for someone to “identify and support the progression of advanced powertrain technologies within McLaren Automotive,” and “support hybrid powertrain design, development and integration activities” and it looks increasingly likely that future McLarens will feature the option of a fully developed hybrid powertrain.
McLaren could even be looking at integrating its KERS technology – effectively a dead system in Formula One – into its future road cars.
McLaren isn’t the only supercar maker investigating hybrid technology, either. Ferrari has a patent application for a 4x4 hybrid system and says it will unveil a hybrid concept sometime this year, while Lamborghini is also planning to develop hybrid drivetrains.
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