Daily News: Wednesday 7/26/17

Next McLaren Ultimate Series Won’t be a HybridReported via the U.K.’s Autocar publication, McLaren has apparently advanced plans for the successor to the P1, internally dubbed the P15. The second of McLaren’s Ultimate Series of cars, the follow-up to the P1 will reportedly use an ~800hp version of the corporate twin-turbocharged V8 unit, although it will shed the hybrid system of its successor. This loss of the hybrid system will enable a much lower weight, meaning the P15 will have a better power-to-weight ratio as a result.

Production is reportedly limited at 500 units, with the design language of the car designed as ‘brutal’. The interior will be sparse to say the least, with just enough luggage space for a helmet and a race suit. While McLaren has previously confirmed the three-seater Ultimate Series car internally dubbed BP23, the much more conventional P15 will beat it to market, with deliveries commencing in 2019.

United Kingdom to Ban Internal Combustion Engines by 2040The United Kingdom today announced plans to join its neighbor France in banning conventionally powered petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. While some outlets have reported that this ban would include hybrid vehicles, leaving only public transit and pure EV’s, the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)—the agency responsible for the ban—confirmed that hybrids would still be allowed on the roads.

These efforts to reduce nitrogen oxide are not the end of the world, despite what some outlets would have you believe. Rather, with the switch to a 48-volt electrical system many automakers are making, many cars will soon be classified as a ‘mild-hybrid’. France and the U.K. are merely preempting market trends and banning the vehicles that many users are already moving away from.

FCA Releases Statement in Response to Justice Department InvestigationThe statement is as follows:

“FCA US and the UAW were the victims of malfeasance by certain of their respective employees that held roles at the National Training Center (NTC), an independent legal entity. These egregious acts were neither known to nor sanctioned by FCA US. Upon learning of possible malfeasance in June 2015, the Company investigated the matter and, as a result, Mr. Iacobelli and Mr. Durden were promptly separated from the Company upon FCA US obtaining credible evidence of wrongdoing. The Company has also worked with the UAW to implement governance, auditing and structural reforms to improve the accountability and transparency of the NTC. FCA US has cooperated fully with the U.S. Attorney’s office in its investigation of this matter. We remain committed to ensuring that the Company and its employees act in a manner consistent with high standards of legal compliance, ethics, integrity and quality.   The Company intends to pursue all potential legal remedies against Mr. Iacobelli and any other culpable parties.  As the U.S. Attorney’s investigation is ongoing, the Company cannot comment further.”

It would not be fun being either of those men.