McLaren unveils new high-performance battery for P1

It’s been about nine years since the McLaren P1 debuted, a supercar that was part of a troika that included the Porsche 918 and LaFerrari, the first wave of supercars to feature electrification and push the average horsepower boundary into four figures. Yet even that hasn’t stopped McLaren from improving its supercars to this day.

The updated high-performance battery is the result of lessons learned from the development of the McLaren Speedtail hypercar, which has resulted in the new pack weighing just 41kg, 55kg lighter than its predecessor.

As with everything in life, lighter means more agility and better acceleration, and that's what this new, lighter battery delivers. The acceleration time from zero to 300 km/h is now 16.1 seconds, 0.4 seconds faster than with the heavier battery. In addition, the new battery makes the P1 half a second faster around the famous Nardo race track.

Those numbers may not sound like much, but in the grand scheme of things, batteries have a shelf life, which means owners will probably need to replace them at this point. At least with this new battery,   McLaren  P1  owners   do get a subtle but tangible performance advantage.

The new batteries are available for both the P1 and the track-only P1 GTR, and owners can make an appointment at a McLaren dealer before July 2022, with the battery pack coming with a six-year warranty.

The McLaren P1's plug-in hybrid powertrain was revolutionary for its time. The twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8 and electric motor had a combined output of 903 horsepower, and the powertrain featured a feature called Instant Power Assist System (IPAS).

IPAS is an F1-derived technology that provides a temporary acceleration boost via the electric motor, likely because the original battery pack is able to quickly discharge itself, just like the batteries in an F1 car. In addition, the plug-in hybrid system is able to give the P1 an electric-only range of 6.8 miles.