BMW and McLaren May Team Up to Build Exciting Electric Sports Cars

[kobayashiGT]

BMW says it produces the ultimate driving machines. McLaren makes some of the finest driving machines for road use. Now, it seems the two brands could end up collaborating to build some exciting new electric vehicles. McLaren and BMW have reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding in March for the joint development of an electric sports car architecture.

The two brands teaming up would make sense. Research and development costs these days are steep, as manufacturers abandon a century-plus of combustion engine development. Joint development deals — like the recent one announced between General Motors and Honda — will be common. And manufacturers that go it alone on EV platform development, like VW, will be looking to sell the platforms to other automakers.

Both BMW and McLaren would benefit from the deal. BMW has been building electric cars like the iX crossover and i4 sedan, but those vehicles are built on a hybrid architecture that supports combustion and electric powertrains. BMW won't launch its dedicated EV Neue Klasse platform until 2025. Besides, there may be room for a sports car-specific platform in addition to that. McLaren, meanwhile, just branched out with a new lightweight hybrid architecture, and will need another platform to move off combustion entirely by 2030 when Great Britain's ban on ICE vehicles is scheduled to take effect.

One potential elephant in the room may be Audi. Rumors have been persistent about Audi buying a stake in McLaren as a foothold to enter Formula 1. According to the same report about the BMW and McLaren agreement, Audi may set in motion a $700-million-plus deal to buy a stake in the organization's F1 team, with an agreement to invest in the automaker potentially coming at a later date. And that deal, not surprisingly, could cancel the non-binding BMW agreement.

[mersaylee]

Cum with signal stalk or not? 😁

[Inlinefour]

Bavaria 

McLaren

Werks 

[Fitvip]

48 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

Cum with signal stalk or not? 😁

It depends on which badge is used!🤐

[Tianmo]

1 hour ago, mersaylee said:

Cum with signal stalk or not? 😁

maybe voice control only. 

[mersaylee]

Just now, Tianmo said:

maybe voice control only. 

Recognise only KNNR and KNNL 😁

[Tianmo]

3 minutes ago, mersaylee said:

Recognise only KNNR and KNNL 😁

[mersaylee]

4 minutes ago, Tianmo said:

Ohh...forgot to add... KNNC to revert to the centre. 

passenger to kena L R n C from the driver...😂

[1fast1]

The McLaren F1 used a BMW made 12 cylinder engine. So nothing new in a collaboration. Good news. 

[Watwheels]

The last collaboration car only ppl like Jay Leno can afford to buy.

Hopefully it will not look like the 2025 model. More of McLaren  styling please.

[ER-3682]

Take the BMW i8,remove the tiny Engine,put a bigger Electric Motor Behind,it is already a Perfect Electric Sport Car.

[Watwheels]

14 minutes ago, ER-3682 said:

Take the BMW i8,remove the tiny Engine,put a bigger Electric Motor Behind,it is already a Perfect Electric Sport Car.

The thing about EV is that if you install a big motor you will need a big battery pack as well.

[Inlinefour]

On 4/8/2022 at 9:33 AM, Fitvip said:

It depends on which badge is used!🤐

no signal vs flying onto flower pots 🤫🤫🤫