When you think of Porsche, it’s impossible not to think about the 911. For so long, the 911 has been the car that has defined Porsche as a brand. But Porsche’s volume comes in another segment – the SUV segment. In 2023, both the Cayenne and the Macan outsold its stablemates by a hefty margin.
While no one wants to think about Porsche as an SUV company, the reality is that SUVs have had a big impact on Porsche’s business. The Macan was added to the options in 2013 and has sold over 800,000 units since then. In 2023, it jockeyed for positions with Cayenne to be the bigger seller – with both SUV models selling over 87,000 models each.
The Macan Electric, then, is a significant piece of Porsche’s future plans. This is the volume seller, the everyday practical Porsche, the one you buy because you’ve always wanted a Porsche but you have, you know, kids and stuff. But fear not, because the Macan Electric isn’t just about practical transportation – it’s still a Porsche.
The Disconnekt Downlow
Pros
+ Great performance
+ Interior quality
+ AR heads-up display
Cons
– No regen control options
– Options are expensive
The electric Macan is an important car for Porsche. It’s the volume seller, a significant model for the company as it brings electric driving to the mainstream in Porsche fashion. There’s a lot to love too: this is a great car to drive whether you’re after premium practicality for the school run or something to give you thrills at the weekend.
With oodles of customisation from bespoke finishes to performance enhancements, it’s likely to be the basic Macan that’s the most popular. But at the performance end Porsche delivers too: excellent brakes and handling, huge power and accelleration and all within the secure refinement that Porsche offers. It’s a great car, with plenty to be excited about.
See the Porsche Macan Electric from £68,500 on Porsche.co.uk
Porsche Macan Electric fun stuff: Design, interior and technology
The Porsche Macan Electric is a B segment SUV, meaning it’s compact. It will be familiar thanks to the popularity of the combustion Macan that came before it, with minor evolutions for this new generation of electric car. It’s not quite a case of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it differences, but what we’re looking at here is the first model that Porsche has plucked out of its line-up and turned electric.
That makes it slightly different to the Taycan that was entirely new both in form and position (well, there’s a leaning towards Panamera, perhaps). But with electric ambitions driving car manufacturers, volume models like the Macan was where your batteries need to be – and that means there’s risk here: if Porsche gets it wrong, there will be a black hole in its finances.
There’s a healthy difference in external trim between the Macan 4 seen here and the Macan Turbo that tops the range. Then there are a blistering array of options for every part of your car – choices of seat, bespoke finishes, custom colours. You can switch plastic from matte to gloss to carbon. The list goes on and on, inviting you to drop a couple of hundred here, a couple of hundred there in the pursuit of your perfect Porsche.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
What you see here then, is pretty much as basic as it gets: free paint (white), standard wheels – but there’s still £7,000 of options, largely taken up by the 14-way powered seats, the towbar and PASM (Porsche Active Suspension Management), the fancy air suspension that will lower the car for sporty driving, aiming to give you the adaptability to deal with all types of driving. One of the nice aspects of PASM, is that you can control the suspension separately to the drive mode, for a more bespoke setup.
Sitting on the PPE platform – the platform for premium cars that Porsche shares with Audi, and the Audi Q6 e-tron is a natural alternative for the Porsche Macan Electric, sharing some of the visible switchgear, but with each car otherwise being unique.
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It’s unlikely you’ll be testing the blistering acceleration with little Timmy sitting in the back chomping on a rice cake on the way to nursery, but if you do then I hope you know the Heimlich manoeuvre.
The Macan Electric shares a lot of its interior design with the rest of current Porsche line-up too. There’s the curved display for the driver that made its debut in the Taycan, while there’s an optional passenger screen as well. You see, Porsche is less about watching that rev needle twitching these days and more about enjoying the ride – and enjoy it you will, regardless of what seat you’re in.
The Macan Electric is plenty spacious with the rear seats large enough even when you’ve got a six-footer in the front. There’s 540 litres of rear storage and 84 litres space for the frunk. That’s painfully practical, giving it more storage than the old combustion model to boot.
One of the interesting things about the technology loadout is how Porsche has positioned itself with Apple over the past 12 months. Porsche was one of the brands that showcased Apple’s (currently absent) full CarPlay takeover, saying at the time that most Porsche drivers connected their iPhone when they got in the car, so that was the experience that Porsche wanted to optimise.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
While that full takeover isn’t quite here yet, if you’re using Apple Maps in CarPlay you’ll get navigation instructions through on the heads-up display, so there’s been some joining of the dots. (I’m assuming that Google Maps through Android Auto is the same, but that’s unconfirmed right now.) What this really all means is that you’re getting a great connected experience that embraces the direction that car infotainment is heading, rather than fighting against it. Again, it’s hugely practical.
With all that said, most of my test driving was done with the car using its own navigation and it was simple enough to get to grips with – especially boosted by the clever augmented reality heads-up display. This will project turn directions into your eyeline as though they are floating above the turning itself. It’s not unique to Porsche (VW does it really well which isn’t a surprise) and I’ve enjoyed using it cars such as the VW ID.7.
Porsche Macan Electric essentials: Range, performance and handling
But enough about the options and the comfort. Do you really need to know that you can have heated rear seats? Of course you don’t – what you want to know about is speed and power. This is a sports car (ish) after all. There are four versions of the Macan Electric and they line-up as follows:
- Macan – RWD, 360PS, 398 miles, 5.7 seconds
- Macan 4 – AWD, 408PS, 380 miles, 5.2 seconds
- Macan 4S – AWD, 516PS, 377 miles, 4.1 seconds
- Macan Turbo – AWD, 639PS, 367 miles, 3.3 seconds
I’ve driven both the Macan 4 and the Macan Turbo, so I can’t comment on the rear-wheel drive Macan, which is both the most affordable and promises the longest range (and likely to be the most popular). All the models have a 100kWh battery, of which 95kWh is usable, and all support up to 270kW charging, meaning you’d get from 10-80 per cent in around 21 minutes under the best charging conditions.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
In real world driving in the Macan 4 I got a return of 3.3 miles per kWh, which would equate to around 313 miles of range. That was without trying and just having a fun drive – so there’s greater scope to extend that range being sensible. That sets the Macan Electric up in a strong place, but then you’d expect no less from a car at this price.
On the road the Macan Electric is quiet and refined. I expect most people will never really push this car, but I did have the chance to put the Macan Turbo around Porsche’s test track in Silverstone, including (and perhaps more usefully), seeing just how well the brakes handle emergency braking. It’s the sort of thing you hope you never need, but it’s good to know just how well the brakes work in tough conditions.
Four essential facts about Porsche Macan Electric
470
kW
The motors on the Macan Turbo can produce 470kW – 639PS – with Launch Control.
3.3
Seconds
The Macan Turbo offers the fastest accelleration with 0-62mph in 3.3 seconds.
270
kW
The Porsche Macan supports charging up to 270kW across all models
398
Miles
The longest range comes from the Macan; once you’re in the Turbo, you’ll only get 367 miles.
I’ve also been driven around Porsche’s test track in Leipzig in a Macan Turbo by a professional driver and let me tell you, this car is no slouch. If you want to throw it around the track, then the Macan is more than happy to oblige. Back to the real world, and it’s unlikely you’ll be testing the blistering acceleration with little Timmy sitting in the back chomping on a rice cake on the way to nursery, but if you do then I hope you know the Heimlich manoeuvre.
The Porsche Macan Electric delivers where you want it to, it’s quiet and refined in normal driving, with excellent brakes and steering, waiting ready and poised when you decide you want to put the hammer down. You don’t get the sort of regen control for one-pedal driving that you’ll find on a Kia, instead you just get in a drive – and you’ll love every minute of it.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
Should I buy the Porsche Macan Electric?
The Macan Electric is a big step for Porsche: while it’s not the spiritual heart of the brand, the Macan is a significant part of the business. It’s no surprise, then, that Porsche isn’t messing around with the electric Macan. This is an excellent electric SUV, offering premium quality and performance, wrapped into a package with enough options to make you feel like you have something special.
The sensible route, naturally, is to opt for the rear-wheel drive option, make a couple of tweaks to make it look a little more exciting than the basic model, and then dive right in. But there’s so much temptation on the options list, I wouldn’t blame you if you cancelled that skiing holiday and just started ticking boxes. The Macan Electric is a great car.
IMAGE CREDIT: THE DISCONNEKT
FAQs
Both sit on the same platform, but the Macan EV comes with a 100kWh battery in all models, whereas Audi offers an 83kWh battery too, with 100kWh on some other models. That means that the entry point for the Q6 e-tron is lower – and more affordable – than the Porsche. Porsche then offers higher power and more expensive models at the top end. Audi goes bigger with the screens on the interior and both offer many of the same options. Ultimately, test drive both, check your budget – but both are great cars.
We’ve had heads-up display in cars for a number of years. It remains an option on the Porsche and it’s basically the same as you’ll find in other VW group cars. It projects information onto the inside of the windscreen, but whereas this used to just be flat information in the past, with augmented reality it looks like it’s overlaying the real world with those instructions. As you approach a turning, the arrow will point at the turning and as you get closer, it moves. It’s a really useful system when navigating on unfamiliar roads, reducing the need to look at the screen in the centre of the car. As the Porsche Macan has a display that’s set into the dashboard, having the AR HUD can be a real benefit.
The new car warranty from Porsche includes a 3-year manufacturer warranty (including paint) as well as an 8-year battery warranty or 100,000 miles, depending on which is reached first. There’s also a 12-year corrosion warranty.
