McLaren is developing a supercar with a triple electric motor propulsion

Rimac, Porsche, General Motors and now McLaren: more and more car manufacturers are positioning themselves in the 100% electric sports car niche.

While already making the hybrid supercar McLaren Artura (as an illustration of this article), the British manufacturer unveiled in January a patent relating to a fully electric triple motor, intended to be installed in the back of a sports vehicle. What would make the future car rear-wheel drive, or rear-wheel drive, quite rare these days.

«[Le système] consists of a differential [avec] a motor [électrique primaire] at the entrance and one motor at each exit, where the axle shafts exit, for a total of three. The three motors work together not only to propel the vehicle forward, but also to provide torque vectoring and regenerative braking. By braking or powering one of the two outer motors, the vehicle can move in all sorts of ways and decrease power more efficiently”explique The Drive.

Teamwork

The patent specifies that the system could be powered by a conventional battery, a supercondensateur or a hydrogen fuel cell.

It would also be possible to install it in a hybrid vehicle, but at the front axle, while the rear axle would be powered by a combustion engine. Provided you do not travel too loaded – such a model would have no trunk.

The system developed by McLaren, however, seems more suited to a 100% electric vehicle. Ensuring that the three engines work together in harmony should already be a major technical challenge, without adding a layer of complexity with the management of an additional (thermal) engine.