McLaren's Planned Plug-in Will Be Named Artura
McLaren Automotive has decided on a name for its upcoming plug-in hybrid. But we know you don’t care much about premium automobiles reserved for people with more money than sense, so we’ll keep this one brief.
Formerly referred to as the P16, McLaren’s new PHEV will be called the Artura. The name, which is of Celtic origin, is supposed to denote nobility. While we cannot say for sure, the brand may be dropping hints as to the type of customers it’s targeting — because the model will no doubt come with a princely sum.
Built on a new the company’s new “McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture” developed specifically to accommodate hybrid powertrains, the Artura will come with a twin-turbo V6 assisted by an electric motor. Output has gone unmentioned but it’s supposed to occupy space between the GT and 720S, allowing us to do some mental math. While little more than an educated guess, we’d expect the PHEV to come in somewhere around 650 horsepower. The company has previously said the P16/Artura would be capable of “most urban journeys” under battery power alone.
Manufactured in the United Kingdom at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, the automaker said it would be impressively lightweight for an electrified vehicle and help solidify the trajectory of future development programs. That presumably means more electrification — though the company has been somewhat cagey on committing to vehicles totally reliant on battery power.
McLaren said it would like to see North American deliveries of the Artura to start this spring.
[Images: McLaren]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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McLaren introduced the first carbon-fiber F1 car just 40 short years ago: https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8194 30 years ago, Jaguar produced a (low-volume) carbon-fiber road-legal production car [other manufacturers followed]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_carbon_fiber_monocoque_cars Here is an interesting background article from 2013: https://preview.tinyurl.com/yxnjwwgu
It was going to be called the McLaren Arturo, but once the first prototype was finished, it was clearly female.