Now You Can Buy Your Kids the Supercar They Always Wanted
Those who frequent McLaren dealerships probably walk through the doors expecting to hear the phrase “zero-to-sixty” uttered at least a few times before the visit’s over. “Zero-to-six,” however, is brave new territory for the fabled British sports car specialists.
That’s zero to six, as in six years of age. It’s a demographic McLaren has failed to take advantage of with their main product range — until now. That’s because McLaren has decided to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Power Wheels, Fisher-Price, and other box-store brawlers by offering up a for-kids-only P1TM.
That’s not all, though. Mercedes-AMG has matched McLaren’s bid for the ultra-luxury six-and-under market with a scaled-down variant of the fresh-off-the-production-line AMG GT.
Turbo Toddlers
Both the Merc and the McLaren are suspected to use electric power — though it’s impossible to rule out pedals just yet for the AMG. McLaren has already thrown the proverbial gauntlet when it comes to acceleration, citing a two-second sprint to the P1TM’s top speed of three miles-per-hour (mph), which is only 214mph less than its fully-mature counterpart’s top speed.
Mercedes-AMG remain hush-hush about exact details for the mini-GT, but it does feature some sweet-looking lighting. McLaren, on the other hand, are clearly proud of the great lengths they’ve gone to in delivering the P1 experience to tomorrow’s crop of Le Mans drivers.
Specifically, the P1TM is the only model in the P1 “family” to feature an open-top configuration, and it uses the same driver-focused central seating position that papa P1 and grand-daddy F1 each feature. The transmission offers three forward speeds and a reverse gear, and A/C comes standard. It’s also got a sound system (wattage unknown) that comes pre-loaded with nursery rhymes!
Buy or Lease?
Starting your young ones on the path toward excellent taste in cars doesn’t come cheap. The P1TM will retail for around $500, which is high compared to just about every car in BestReview’s top 20 list of children’s EVs. To be fair though, the P1TM does offer more features than either the Barbie Ford Mustang or Disney’s “Frozen” Jeep. It also earns a whole lot more street cred.
Lest you think that Mercedes and McLaren have jumped the shark, though, reigning champion of EV technology, Tesla, are here to prove that the luxury children’s EV market is indeed very real. They’ve teamed up with Radio Flyer and are now delivering micro-Teslas all over the globe. Oh, and the Tesla can be “delimited” to achieve up to — you’d better sit down — six miles-per-hour!
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