New patent filing hints at three-motor electric McLaren supercar

A patent filed by McLaren has pointed to plans for an battery-powered supercar with three electric motors – with the car-maker taking an unconventional approach to how the electric model would be laid out.

First reported by US publication The Drive, the patent submission shows an unusual layout for the three motors, with one mounted in the centre of the car sending power to a differential, which drives a rear axle with one motor on each wheel.

For context, existing three-motor electric cars such as the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire use one electric motor to drive the front axle and while the remaining two power the rear wheels, providing an all-wheel-drive layout.

McLaren’s proposed layout would result in all power from the battery – which is mounted underneath the driver – being sent to the rear wheels. The car maker has never offered a vehicle which is not rear-wheel drive or mid-engined.

The patent also shows the electric motors can be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, a bank of supercapacitors – as used by some recent Lamborghini V12 special editions – or mated to a petrol engine, becoming a hybrid supercar.

According to The Drive, the electric system would be moved to the front of the car if it was used in a hybrid application, with the petrol engine powering the rear wheels – a similar layout to the second-generation Honda NSX.

McLaren’s future as a car-maker has been in the spotlight in recent years, as the UK firm battles financial struggles and production delays to stay afloat.

In December 2022, news agency Bloomberg reported McLaren recently sold a number of collectible vehicles from its heritage fleet to Mumtalakat Holding Co. – the car-maker’s Bahrain-based owners – to fund “technical upgrades” for the Artura hybrid supercar.

A spokesperson for McLaren told Bloomberg the sale injected an additional £100 million ($AU180 million) into the struggling UK car-maker, which recorded a loss of £203 million ($AU351 million) between January and September 2022.