Heavy electric car batteries are killing the excitement of driving British sports cars, the chief executive of McLaren has said.
Michael Leiters said the Woking-based supercar manufacturer was not yet ready to switch its cars to electric, claiming drivers “cannot enjoy [themselves] at the weekend” when heavy lithium batteries are under the hood.
Mr Leiters said current technology was not yet advanced enough to replicate the “emotional” experience of driving a petrol or diesel-powered high-performance sports car.
He said: “Today, battery technology is not yet mature. If you go sporty, if you want to enjoy yourself at the weekend, if you go on a racetrack, it’s not yet the right technology.”
Mr Leiters suggested that fitting battery packs in today’s supercars would weigh them down too much and make them boring to drive.
McLaren supercars, even with four-litre engines, weigh about 1.4 tonnes. Meanwhile, comparable electric cars would weigh 2.2 tonnes.
Mr Leiters told the FT Future of the Car Summit: “This is not the DNA of the product, at least our product.”
The McLaren 720S, which starts from £222,000, can go from 0mph to 60mph in 2.6 seconds.
Some high performance electric cars can rival or even better that performance: the £125,000 Tesla Model S Plaid can reach 60pmh in less than two seconds.
However, Mr Leiters said the experience of driving a supercar was about more than simply speed.
“Purchasing a supercar is nothing rational. It's totally emotional. And we have to deliver this emotional experience.”
Mr Leiters, who was appointed chief of McLaren last year, is the latest executive to complain that current electric vehicle technology cannot replicate the control, feel, noise and handling of a combustion engine-powered sports car.
Ferrari chief Benedetto Vigna said last year that sound is one of the “essential” characteristics of his vehicles and each engine must have a signature sound, including electric ones.
The Italian marque has patented technology to amplify the small amount of noise an electric engine produces to replicate the roar of a petrol engine. Ferrari plans to release its first all-electric sports car in 2025.
Dodge, the US car manufacturer, has developed its own device to recreate the noise of its gas-guzzling muscle cars for its Charger EV, with volumes up to 126 decibels.
BMW, meanwhile, has hired Oscar-winning Hollywood soundtrack composer Hans Zimmer to create an “emotionally rich aural experience” for its electric cars.
McLaren is working on a fully electric car but Mr Leiters said it could be ten years away, when battery technology has evolved and more power can be packed into a smaller and lighter package.
“Be sure when we bring out a supercar, it will be a real EV supercar,” he said. “I'm not saying it's a bad technology. I think it's a great technology, but we have to develop it for every purpose.”
McLaren is for now focusing on so-called e-fuels. These synthetic fuels mimic petrol, diesel and other fossil fuels as they are made with the same combination of hydrogen and carbon atoms.
However, rather than being dug from the ground, refined and burnt, they are made from water and air using electricity, meaning they have less of an impact on the planet.
Use of e-fuels could allow classic cars and other older models to remain on the road even after new combustion engines stop rolling off manufacturing lines.
Ferrari and Porsche are supportive of the technology and UK brands including Aston Martin are said to be interested in it.
The EU has agreed to allow e-fuel-powered cars to continue driving on its roads even after a 2035 ban on petrol and diesel cars comes into force.
Mr Leiters said: “I'm very happy and positive about the new trend or the new element in the discussion in the European Union, about E-fuels.”
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