British Automaker McLaren has secured a partnership agreement with BMW to design two new production EVs under both of their brands. One of these will be a hypercar.
McLaren undertakes to provide the chassis – likely a carbon-fiber monocoque – while BMW, which already has quite a few EVs in its portfolio, will handle the powertrain, the battery, the electronic systems and the software.
No other details are available. One could assume that the collaboration is the automakers’ response to the upcoming Volkswagen EVs (likely Audi and/or Porsche-badged) and the production version of the Mercedes Vision AMG. Peek inside our gallery for a reminder what recent BMW EVs look like.
As for McLaren, it will also handle the sales, targeting completely different audiences from those normally interested in BMW cars. This cross-marketing strategy is expected to cut development costs while expanding the audiences of both automotive brands.