McLaren Shooting for 18 New Cars by 2025, All Hybrid 

British supercar maker McLaren is planning an onslaught of new models over the next seven years. Between now and 2025 the company has 18 new models and derivatives in the works, and by the time they're all released the company's new lineup will be 100 percent hybrid. But that doesn't mean they'll be any less intense.

The new plan, dubbed Track25, is an extension of the company's existing Track22 roadmap. The first was a plan for 15 new cars and £1 billion in R&D over six years, set in 2016.

The new plan increases the research and development spend, to £1.2 billion. While the company is planning to go fully hybrid, that doesn't mean that they're planning to abandon the race for lower weight as well. McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt called for McLaren and other supercar constructors to work to trim the fat instead of a race for power just last month, saying that the company will work toward that performance goal. Yesterday's announcement says that the company will continue toward winning the weight race, and develop lighter electrical systems to add hybrid power and efficiency with a lower weight penalty.

McLaren said that it will push the tech boundaries of electrified performance. The automaker will look at developing a lighter and faster-charging high-power battery system. One that they target for a 30-minute range on the race track. It is also working on what it calls augmented driving features. It's not clear if that means autonomous features or if McLaren is talking tech that could help a driver get the most out of their car's performance on road or track.

The McLaren P1 was the first gas-electric hybrid hypercar, and the company says that the 903 hp, carbon fibre hypercar will get a successor, with a new Ultimate Series car on the way. That's in addition to the successor of the legendary McLaren F1, codenamed BP23, that's expected to be shown sometime next year.

18 new cars for such a low volume automaker is ambitious, but the company expects that the new models will help boost sales significantly. The company is hoping to reach 6,000 cars per year by the end of the plan. That's a boost of about 75 percent more than today. They will still be built at McLaren in Woking, and there is a new Composites Technology Centre in the works to help them build more carbon fibre chassis and to build them in-house. The company is adding to the dealer network, shooting for 100 by 2025, from 86 in 31 countries today.

McLaren already offers customers upgrades when new features are added to its cars, both physical and digital. Now it's planning to add over the air software updates to save owners a trip to a service centre. Enhanced cybersecurity protection and improved vehicle tracking are also on the list.



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