McLaren Production Centre receives new prototype carbon fibre Monocell

The first prototype carbon fibre Monocell, the tub that forms the main structure of McLaren's car produced by McLaren Automotive has been shipped from the company's new innovation and production centre in Yorkshire to the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey.

Codenamed 'PLT-MCTC - 01' - which stands for 'Prototype Lightweight Tub, McLaren Composites Technology Centre - 01' - the tub completed its 282km journey to the British sports cars and supercar maker's global headquarters from the McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC).

There it will be involved with stringent crash testing duties. This will help the firm's designers and engineers as the company develops its next generation of vehicles as part of its ambitious Track25 business plan.

McLaren aims to win the automotive race to lightweight, which will become ever more important as cars move towards hybrid powertrains, which are generally heavier than their traditional petrol counterparts. All McLaren's sportscars and supercars will be hybrid by 2024.

The MCTC currently employs around 60 people, which will rise to over 200 when full production commences in 2020.

Carbon fibre has long been part of McLaren's DNA, the company having first introduced the material into Formula One in the early 1980s. Given the material's lightweight and strength characteristics, it hasn't produced a road car without it since.