McLaren’s Off-Road E-Bike Is the Supercar of Electric Mobility
Who else but McLaren could make an e-bike this powerful?
McLaren is about to give e-bikes a little F1 flavor. The Extreme and Sport series e-bikes from McLaren — which, for the uninitiated, is a major name in the world of supercars — are the company’s first foray into the world of electric mobility and boast some specs to match the “Extreme” moniker.
The first thing you need to know about the Extreme and Sport bikes is that they pack a lot of power — in the most expensive variant, about 852W of peak power from a 600W motor to be exact. All that power translates to 161nM of torque, which is about 118 lb-ft in imperial measurement. For reference, a small car might pack around 100 lb-ft, so... buckle up, baby.
Plenty of E-Bike Options
Altogether, McLaren is introducing four different versions of its e-bikes: the Extreme 600, Extreme 250, Sport 600, and Sport 250. Naturally, the 600 versions of both have the most extreme specs that I mentioned above, along with some other perks — a carbon fiber frame, for example. The 250 Extreme and Sport will, as you may have guessed, come with a less powerful 250W motor.
From what I can tell, the main difference between the Sport and Extreme e-bikes is the suspension. The Sport has one RockShox suspension fork while the Extreme has both front and rear suspension.
All of the bikes have several different ride modes to choose from: “Eco” uses the least energy for maximum range, “trail” gives a mix of power and range, “sport” gives more power, and finally, “race” turns on everything the bikes have.
Obviously, power is the main appeal here, but there’s a little flourish of tech, too. On all of the bikes and variants, there's an integrated LCD digital display that gives riders a readout of important information like range and battery life — in full color, too!
Sadly, McLaren doesn’t give any estimates on the range of its new e-bikes, but both bike variants use a 48V, 14.5AH battery.
Priced for Performance
I don’t think I’m going to shock anyone by saying that these bikes will not come cheap. If you want supercar-esque e-bike specs you’re going to pay supercar-esque prices. McLaren is pricing the Extreme bikes at $10,950 for the less powerful motor variant and $11,950 for the highest. The Sport will start at $7,950 and go up to $8,950.
These bikes are also being made to order 90 days after being purchased. McLaren says they’ll start shipping August 2024.
