The first prototype carbon fibre MonoCell —the tub that forms the main structure of McLaren’s cars — has been shipped from the company’s new £50 million innovation and production centre in Yorkshire to the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey.
Codenamed ‘PLT-MCTC - 01’ (Prototype Lightweight Tub, McLaren Composites Technology Centre – 01) the tub will now undergo stringent crash tests.
The MCTC was opened last year by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (alongside HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain) as part of McLaren’s ambitious plans to increase the rate of innovation of its famous lightweight carbon fibre chassis.
This new facility will help the firm’s designers and engineers to find further weight savings, as the company develops its next generation of vehicles.
McLaren aims to win the automotive race to lightweight, which will become more important as cars move towards hybrid powertrains, which are generally heavier than their petrol counterparts.
All McLaren’s sports cars and super-cars will be hybrid by 2024. The MCTC currently employs around 60 people; the number will rise to over 200 when full production commences in 2020.
Carbon fibre has long been a large part of McLaren’s DNA, the company having first introduced the material into Formula One in the early 1980s.
Wes Jacklin, MCTC plant director, said: “The delivery of the first prototype carbon fibre tub to McLaren HQ by the new MCTC is an exciting day for everyone who has directly worked on the project and a significant milestone for McLaren Automotive’s ambition to be world-beaters in lightweight and composites technology, which goes hand-in-hand with our move to hybrid powertrains as part of our Track25 business plan.
“We never innovate just for the sake of it; we innovate to continually fulfil our promise to create iconic sports cars. It’s increasingly clear that with future heavier powertrain requirements, exploiting innovative lightweighting techniques and technologies is going to be key to unlocking all the handling and agility characteristics that our customers demand.”