If there’s one automotive brand that’s leaned into the electric era with surprising success, it’s arguably Porsche. The brand so long identified with intoxicating gas-powered sports cars proved that when it launched its first electric car, the Taycan, with a bang back in 2019. Clad in concept-car looks and delivering 911-humbling acceleration while still packing room for four, it helped show the world that EVs can, indeed, be sports cars. Power is power and performance is performance, the Taycan seemed to say on Porsche’s behalf; whether you use gas or electricity is just a matter of preference.
But while low-slung sedans and station wagons may woo car nerds and journalists (a.k.a. other car nerds), buyers these days want crossovers. Considering the profit-generating dynamos that the Cayenne and Macan have been, Porsche knows this better than most.
Enter the all-new, all-electric Porsche Macan.
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After years of teases, hints, and increasingly-less-camouflaged images of prototypes, Porsche has finally taken the wraps off its second EV ahead of a production launch in the second half of 2024. (Porsche is currently calling it the “2024 Macan,” so we’ve used that terminology throughout, in spite of the fact that its planned production date suggests it’ll be a 2025 model year vehicles.)
And while it may not be able to completely supplant the internal-combustion Macan just yet, odds are good it’ll pull quite a few buyers away from the gas-powered version … as well as from Tesla, Rivian, BMW and Mercedes.
The electric Macan launches in two forms: Macan 4 and Macan Turbo
The base model at launch will be the Macan 4, which, as the name suggests, packs all-wheel-drive. Spool up the twin electric motors to overboost, and the starter Macan will generate a maximum of 402 horsepower and 479 lb-ft, giving it a claimed (and likely conservative) 0-60-mph dash of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 136 mph.
PorscheThe next rung — for now — is the Macan Turbo, and while it may not actually boast any turbochargers, odds are good you won’t care once all 630 horsepower and 833 lb-ft of torque kick in. That’s enough for a claimed 3.1 second 0-60 time (but again, Porsche times are almost always conservative) and a top speed of 161 mph.
Both Macans should handle as you’d expect of a Porsche, thanks to the carmaker’s usual bag of tricks like air suspension, adaptive dampers and optional rear-wheel steering — as well as some new ones, like a traction control system that can operate five times quicker than one in a conventional gas-powered all-wheel-drive car and the inherent low-slung, centrally placed center of gravity brought about by having a giant battery pack in the floor of a car rather than a heavy engine in the nose. (Buyers who go for the Macan Turbo can also score torque vectoring via electronic limited-slip differential, in case you needed another reason to choose that model.)
Why, you may ask, are we caveating the current Macan EV lineup? Well, for one thing, Porsche rarely stops at just two variants of a vehicle. For another, Zuffenhausen kremlinology suggests that the presence of a Macan 4 means there’ll be a rear-wheel-drive just-plain-Macan below it at some point — presumably for those who want maximum range — while the gap between Macan 4 and Macan Turbo suggests room for a presumably-inevitable electric Macan S …
… and then eventually an electric Macan GTS …
…. and then a Macan Turbo S or Turbo GT at the top of the lineup someday …
… and then maybe a Macan T somewhere down the line.
(It’s also very possible that Porsche chose the “Macan 4” and “Macan Turbo” names because they don’t overlap with any existing members of the gas-powered Macan family, but those two notions aren’t mutually exclusive.)
Porsche didn’t talk range, but it did talk charging — and others have given us a good clue as to how far the Macan EV will go
Beneath the seats and between the axles of Porsche’s new Macan — the first car to use the VW Group’s Premium Platform Electric, or PPE —lies a battery pack with 100 kWh of total capacity, of which 95 percent is available for use. Porsche didn’t release any range claims with its U.S. announcement, but in Europe, the brand is claiming a WLTP range of 381 miles for the Macan 4 and 367 miles for the Macan Turbo, according to Autocar. Using very rough back-of-the-napkin math, that suggests an EPA range of around 310 miles for the Macan 4 and 301 for the Macan Turbo.
In addition, Porsche let a few media outlets like Car and Driver and Edmunds do an informal range test with prototypes before the reveal. Those results suggest the Macan EV should be able to do close to 300 miles of driving in real-world conditions.
Recharging shouldn’t take too long, however, as Porsche claims the battery can go from 10–80 percent in 21 minutes on a 279-kW DC fast charger. (The brand also had the decency to add “under ideal conditions.”) On a Level 2 charger, it can take on power at up to 11 kW, which should be enough to fill it up from empty to full in nine hours or so.
Porsche didn’t specify whether the electric Macan would use the Euro-standard CCS fast-charging connection found on the Taycan or the new North American Charging System (a.k.a. NACS, also known as the “Tesla plug”), but the images released by the brand clearly show a CCS port. Given that Porsche announced last month that it, VW, Audi and Scout Motors would be moving over to NACS “for future products … beginning in 2025,” we’d bet: the Macan EV will switch over to NACS for its midlife refresh.
The Macan EV looks like no other Porsche
“With the all-electric Macan, we are presenting the first Porsche that we are taking electric from an established product identity,” Porsche’s vice-president of style Michael Mauer said in the press release, and one look at these pictures tells you he ain’t kidding.
The clearest evidence lies in the face. The traditional Porsche headlights are no longer headlights; they’re running lights now, with the real headlights lying a few inches below as has become the style with vehicles from the Ferrari Purosangue to the Hyundai Santa Cruz. (In all honesty, we’re pretty sure the Jeep Cherokee pioneered this trend back in 2013.)
PorscheAt 188.4 inches long and 84.7 inches wide, it’s a couple inches lengthier and broader than the gas-powered Macan, yet its roofline sits the same 63.8 inches off the ground, giving it a lower-and-wider look.
Inside, the cabin should look familiar to anyone who’s been in a Taycan or a facelifted 2024 Cayenne (or, y’know, who saw the image Porsche already posted of it as a teaser). What you can’t tell from looking at all those screens, however, is that the front occupants sit about an inch lower than in the ICE Macan, while rear-seat passenger sit around half an inch farther down and enjoy more legroom.
Oh, and if you’re looking for cargo room, there’s cause for celebration, because the electric Macan takes after its Boxster and Cayman siblings and offers two trunks. Look in back behind the second row, you’ll find 18 cubic feet of space; pop open the frunk, and you’ll find 2.9 more cubes.
PorscheThe 2024 Macan EV is reasonably priced … for a Porsche, at least
Considering how recent years have seen Porsche nudge prices of 911s and other cars, the new EV’s MSRP actually seems surprisingly reasonable. The electric Macan 4 starts at $80,450 (including destination); that’s about $18,000 more than a base gasoline-powered version, sure, but it’s also $800 less than a base-model Cayenne.
The 2024 Macan Turbo, meanwhile, starts at $106,950, putting it $18,500 above the Macan GTS. If that feels a little hefty, think of it as $43.25 for each additional pound-foot of torque you have, all while saving the environment. And hey, you’ll be the envy of every soccer mom and gearhead you pass … and you’ll pass plenty of ’em.
