√McLaren may develop electric super sedan to rival Porsche Taycan

British supercar company McLaren is eyeing new segments to compete with the likes of Porsche and Lotus, and it could be powered by BMW technology, overseas reports hint.

The electric super sedan segment is about to get more interesting, with McLaren considering building its own four-door.

The new CEO of McLaren, Michael Leiters, hinted to UK publication Evo the company is considering an electric sports sedan, which would be a direct competitor to the Porsche Taycan.

As reported in July 2022, overseas reports claim McLaren is in talks with BMW to partner on an electric-car architecture which could be used to create four-seat models for both brands.

The BMW and McLaren partnership is not believed to have been confirmed, and it’s not known for sure if it would include a four-door model – however the July report presented a four-seater as one area where the two brands could collaborate.

Lotus is also in the final stages of development for its battery-powered sports sedan, known internally as the Type 133, with trademark filings suggesting the vehicle could be named ‘Envya’.

These computer illustrations by independent artist Andrey Sulemin provide a glimpse of what an electric McLaren sedan could look like.

Despite Lotus also working on a flagship electric hypercar, Mr Leiters dismissed the idea of competing in that segment in the foreseeable future, saying the technology was not at the stage to consider such a model – but conceded batteries and electric motors were ripe for use in other vehicles.

“The technology is much more mature [and allows us to] customise it to have a more lifestyle, a more utility purpose,” he said.

“Words like ‘utility’ or ‘lifestyle’, you’ll obviously leap to certain conclusions. I think the key measure for McLaren is potentially something with the ability to share with more occupants in the car. Not necessarily higher-riding, but it could be.”

An electric McLaren SUV has also been rumoured. Mr Leiters helped to create the Cayenne when he was at Porsche, as well as assisting in the creation of Ferrari’s forthcoming SUV, the Purosangue.

“I think it’s a really important market. It still is, and it continues to grow. It’s very attractive as a market segment,” Mr Leiters said in August 2022.

“I developed an SUV at Ferrari. I developed an SUV at Porsche, so I love SUVs. But we won’t do it for me.”

While McLaren and BMW have not publicly acknowledged the closed-door meetings, it’s understood BMW provided technical assistance to McLaren in 2017 to help improve emissions and increase engine power, potentially opening the door for further collaborations.

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