Heavy electric cars are a drag to drive, admits Mclaren boss

Batteries cannot replicate the ‘emotional’ appeal of fossil fuel powered vehicles, says British supercar chief

HEAVY electric batteries are killing the excitement of driving British sports cars, the chief executive of Mclaren has said.

Michael Leiters said the Wokingbased supercar manufacturer was not ready to ditch fossil-fuel power because drivers “cannot enjoy [themselves] at the weekend” if their cars have to have haul around a heavy lithium battery.

Mr Leiters said battery technology was insufficiently advanced to replicate the “emotional” experience of driving a petrol or diesel-powered high-performance vehicle.

He said: “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 to today’s supercars would weigh them down and make them boring to drive. Mclaren supercars, which have four-litre engines, weigh about 1.4 tons but a comparable electric car would weigh 2.2 tons.

Mr Leiters told the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit: “This is not the DNA of the product – at least our product.”

The Mclaren 720S, which costs from £222,000, can accelerate from to 60mph in 2.6 seconds. Some high-performance electric cars can rival or even better that: the £125,000 Tesla Model S Plaid can reach 60pmh in less than two seconds, for example.

However, Mr Leiters said the experiogy. ence of driving a supercar concerned more than mere speed.

“Purchasing a supercar is [not] 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 electric vehicle technology cannot replicate the control, feel, noise and handling of a sports car equipped with an internal combustion engine.

Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari’s chief, said last year that sound was one of the “essential” characteristics of his vehicles and each engine would have to have a signature sound, even electric ones.

The Italian marque has patented technology to amplify the small amount of noise produced by electric engines to replicate the roar of petrol engines.

Ferrari plans to release its first allelectric sports car in 2025.

Dodge, the US car manufacturer, has developed a device that recreates the noise of its gas-guzzling muscle cars, with volumes up to 126 decibels, for its Charger EV.

BMW, meanwhile, has hired Hans Zimmer, the Oscar-winning Hollywood soundtrack composer, 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 10 years away, when battery technology will have evolved and more power can be packed into a smaller, 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 technolI think it’s a great technology, but we have to develop it.”

Mclaren is focusing on researching engines that burn synthetic e-fuels. They mimic petrol, diesel and other fossil fuels and are made with the same combination of hydrogen and carbon atoms. However, rather than being dug out of the ground, refined and burnt, they are made from water and air using electricity, so have less impact on the environment.

E-fuels could enable classic cars and other, older vehicles to remain in service even when vehicles equipped with combustion engines have stop rolling off manufacturers’ production lines.

Ferrari and Porsche are supportive of the technology and UK brands such as Aston Martin are said to be interested in it. The EU has agreed that e-fuel-powered cars can remain in use after its 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.”