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McLaren Artura first drive: The hybrid supercar adds EV torque to the mix

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The Artura can do zero to 60 in three seconds. That’s EV fast and it’s thanks to the supercar’s plug-in hybrid setup. Wedged between a twin-turbo V6 and the 8-speed transmission sits a tiny electric motor that’s powered by a 7.5kWh battery pack. It adds low-end torque at launch and while exiting corners while the gas engine catches up. On the more environmental side, according to the EPA the Artura can travel 11 miles while in EV-only mode. McLaren noted that it could get up to 15 with more surface street driving. It’s not in the league of the other PHEVs on the market with ranges busting above 30 miles per charge. Remember though, it’s a supercar with all the joy and excitement that comes with that package. We got a chance to try it out on the roads around Las Vegas, Nevada, and ended the day with 14 laps around a track.

Video Transcript

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ROBERTO BALDWIN (VOICEOVER): McLaren is known for its precision-built, race-inspired supercars. And while the company itself has only been building cars for more than a few customers for the past 11 years, its racing lineage makes itself apparent in everything it builds.

ROBERTO BALDWIN: Which brings us to the electrification of McLaren. Sure, we have the P1 and the Speedtail. Those are both hybrids. But those were low production vehicles.

For everyone else, there's the Artura. And when I say everyone else, I mean everyone else who can afford a $230,000 sports car.

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The McLaren Artura is built on a completely new architecture. It is a hybrid, but it's more than that. It's a plug-in hybrid. It's a PHEV, like RAV4 Prime, but not like a RAV4 Prime because you can't do this in the RAV4 Prime.

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So it's like a RAV4 Prime in that they both have four wheels and a steering wheel. And that's pretty much where it ends. The 7.5 kilowatt hour battery pack that they have in this vehicle will give you about 11 to 15 miles of EV-only driving. EPA says 11 miles. McLaren says you can probably eek out about 15 miles.

Of course, that's way lower than what you would get from, well, most PHEVs on the market. They're typically hitting about 30 to 40 miles of range in EV-Only mode. But those vehicles can't do this.

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ROBERTO BALDWIN (VOICEOVER): The Artura has 671 horsepower and 530 pound feet of torque. As you would expect, that low end torque at launch comes from the electric motor. So you get the instant boost of an EV coupled with the top end power of a twin turbo V6. You put all that together in a car that weighs about 3,000 pounds. So it's light and fast, which is exactly what you want from a McLaren.

ROBERTO BALDWIN: How does it feel behind the wheel? Well, it feels like a McLaren. It's quick. It's nimble. It's tight.

It's just stuck to the road. It's everything you want from a McLaren that, well, while you can also drive around in EV mode. And to be honest, that EV mode-- that battery pack and that electric motor-- they only help this vehicle.

You can do zero to 60 in three seconds, which means is that that low end torque that you're getting from the electric motor that's situated between the actual engine and the transmission, it gives you that instant on torque to take off as the motor catches up. So you're getting the same experience you would get from an electric vehicle going from zero to 60.

You're getting it in a McLaren with a V6. That's outstanding. And of course, the handling is just great because it weighs about 3,000 pounds.

It's really sort of small, lightweight, nimble, powerful machine that is just a joy to drive. One thing I do appreciate about this vehicle is that instead of drive by wire, where I turn the steering wheel and the computer turns the actual tires, this is hydraulic assisted driving, which means I can feel everything. I can feel the feedback from the road, which is something that's really tough with drive by wire.

McLaren just said, you know what, let's just keep it the way people want it. They want hydraulic-assisted driving when they're driving a McLaren. It is a supercar. I want to feel every single little bit of feedback that I can while driving this thing.

Of course, you would expect that the battery pack, which is situated right about here, would bring down the center of gravity of the vehicle. But McLaren went one step further with its V6, which is actually pretty small for a V6. It's also lower to the ground. And the way they've angled the cylinders also bring down the center of gravity of the vehicle.

So no matter what you're doing in this vehicle powertrain-wise, it's lowering its center of gravity, meaning that it'll be planted to the road much better. McLaren didn't just carve out a hole in order to place a battery into this vehicle. What it did is it created a brand-new architecture.

And at the center of that is the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture-- the MCLA. And it's a new carbon fiber tub that encases the passenger area. Now, this carbon fiber tub is lighter. It's stiffer and, because it comes from a racing lineage and is built to protect drivers, is actually safer than most vehicles.

McLaren didn't stop with the powertrain when it came to innovating this vehicle. Now, this hood right here, this is regular stamped aluminum. Every automaker does that.

But this-- this door panel-- this is actually vacuum formed aluminum so they can get this nice swoop. They get these really nice, tight edges-- something they really couldn't get from stamping. They vacuum formed.

So they heated up the aluminum. They vacuum formed it. And the most interesting part is this giant panel.

This is just one giant panel on the back of the vehicle. By doing this, you can use fewer panels, which means you don't have to have as much structure in order to hold the panels in, which means lighter weight. And you don't have panel gaps, which means better aerodynamics.

ROBERTO BALDWIN (VOICEOVER): The electric motor propelling the vehicle is situated between the motor and the transmission in the bell housing, so it has a direct connection to the powertrain.

ROBERTO BALDWIN: Here's a fun little fact. In order to make the transmission smaller, there is no reverse gear in the transmission. Instead, when you put it in reverse, it's actually using the EV motor to back you up.

On the road, it has four modes. Right now I am in Electric mode. When you start up the McLaren, it starts up in E-mode. It starts up in Electric mode.

Right now I'm in Electric mode. It's quiet. You can, of course, put it in Comfort mode. When you do that, if you start the vehicle cold in the morning, it'll warm up the engine for about 45 seconds before it engages.

So you'll hear the engine warming up while you're still in Electric mode. And then once the engine's nice and warm, after about 45 seconds, it'll engage. And then you'll feel that extra power.

You also have Track mode and Sport mode. And Track and Sport, Comfort mode-- all of those modes you can use the electric and the gas-powered engine, so you're getting sort of the best of both worlds. Electric mode, you can go 11 to 15, maybe 18 miles in electric mode.

EPA says 11. And it'll stay in Electric mode up to 81 miles an hour. So right now I'm doing 57 miles an hour. I'm in Electric mode. And it'll stay in Electric mode until I deplete the battery.

So there's no like, oh, I got on the freeway at 65, boom, it brings on the engine. Nope, I'm just going to hang out in Electric mode for a little while. Charging the battery, you can either plug it in at night, or you can allow the V6 engine to charge the battery.

Now, it does that automatically. There's an Automatic mode, where it just sort of figures out, oh, I'm going to charge the battery here, I'm going to charge the battery there. Or you can put it on Max mode, and it'll just start charging the battery.

Even if you're just cruising in Comfort mode, you can feel the engine turn up just a little bit in order to feed energy back to that battery pack. And of course, like any good McLaren, it has Launch mode. So we're out in the middle of nowhere-- literally, no one around.

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Here we go.

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The in-car tech, I'm a really big fan of this display. This display cluster is actually really quite nice. It's bright. It's easy to read.

It's not too busy, but it still has a ton of information. It can give you as much or as little information as you really want. Over here, the infotainment system is-- well, it's housed in an eight-inch touchscreen.

It's not huge, but no one buys a McLaren for the infotainment system. Yes, you can make some adjustments. Yes, you can do some navigation. But the real big news here is that it supports Apple CarPlay and Android Automotive because we all know once you set up your car, you're just going to plug in your phone to figure out where you want to go.

One feature that's new on, well, any McLaren is adaptive cruise control-- the thing where you can set your cruise control to 70. If you get stuck behind somebody, they're doing 60, you'll slow down to 60. That's on this McLaren.

When you're stuck on the interstate, you can use adaptive cruise control. It does have lane-keeping assist, which is essentially just telling you, hey, you're exiting your lane. But there is no lane-keeping, centering.

The McLaren will not drive for you. It will not steer the vehicle for you. If you buy a McLaren, you're steering a McLaren.

As for in-car comfort, it's actually quite comfortable. I could see driving this on a road trip, to be honest, which is something you only really talked about when you're driving the McLaren GT. That's really sort of the road trip McLaren.

But with this thing, even-- I'm in Track mode right now. I have Track suspension turned on. I'm on just a regular road. There's some bumps and some ruts, but I'm actually quite comfortable.

Now, if you want to go for performance seats, those club sport seats, they actually have lumbar support now. So if you decide to opt in for those, well, typically hard seats, yes, you can get those. But you can also get them with lumbar support. So your spine will thank you after a day at the track.

The McLaren Artura starts at $233,000. But with that money, you're getting a pure, real McLaren. You're not getting some watered down hybrid version of the vehicle. You're getting a real McLaren that you can take on the track if you want.

I took it on the track today. I had a wonderful time. I drove it around Las Vegas-- again, a wonderful time. If you're looking for a plug-in hybrid and, well, you just happen to be rich, this might be the vehicle you're looking for. For more automotive coverage from a racetrack next to a white supercar, be sure to subscribe to Engadget.

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