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Confirmed back in early 2019, Porsche’s all-electric next-generation Macan is edging closer to a predicted showroom arrival in early 2024.
Pre-production prototypes, spotted regularly over the last two years, are now wearing fewer dummy panels and less camera lens confusing camouflage.
But the big question is whether the pure-electric Macan’s appearance will signal an immediate departure for the model’s existing internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrains?
Read more about Porsche Macan
Currently offered in 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol and 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 form across four model grades, the mid-size SUV is easily Porsche’s best-seller, accounting for around 50 per cent of the brand’s local sales so far in 2023.
And CEO and Managing Director of Porsche Cars Australia, Daniel Schmollinger, has confirmed there will be a short-term dual sales strategy across ICE and pure EV Macan models, telling CarsGuide, “There will be an overlap for a certain period of time, but then eventually we will only be electric.”
And Mr Schmollinger is confident the brand’s most popular offering won’t lose any sales momentum in the transition to electric propulsion.
“In the moment we have announced the electric Macan and we have a lot of customers coming in to put an expression of interest, trying to be one of the first to get the car, which gives us a lot of confidence that the pick up for electric Macan will be very, very good,” he said.
Porsche’s stated aim is to make the Macan EV “the sportiest model in the segment”, like the ground-breaking Porsche Taycan running a high-performance 800-volt architecture as well as a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive capability, the latter courtesy of an electric motor on each axle.
Unlike the Taycan, however, which rides on the ‘J1′ EV matrix shared with the Audi e-tron GT, the new Macan will be underpinned by the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE), again developed jointly by Audi and Porsche.
Head of Porsche R&D, Dr. Michael Steiner, has confirmed the all-electric Macan will boast a revised double wishbone suspension at the front and a multi-link axle at the rear, connected to the body via an elastically-mounted sub-frame, and says, the Macan EV will offer, “typical Porsche E-Performance”.
To that end, power will be provided by permanently excited synchronous electric motors (PSM) which Porsche claims, relative to asynchronous motors (ASM), deliver higher power, more torque and greater efficiency.
Porsche says system outputs will be capped at 450kW (600hp+) and around 1000Nm while low aerodynamic drag has been a fundamental factor in the new Maxcan’s development with a focus on maximising range.
The new Macan’s 100kWh lithium-ion battery pack consists of twelve modules containing prismatic cells combining nickel, cobalt and manganese for high energy density and a range in excess of 500km.
Porsche says charging capacity will be even higher than the Taycan’s 270kW and that at “a suitably powerful fast-charging station” the battery will charge from five to 80 per cent in less than 25 minutes.
The PPE chassis has been designed to accommodate small, medium and large SUVs as well as a sedan and “transporter”.
We already know the Cayenne large SUV is in line for the full EV treatment by 2026, so it would appear the Panamera will also be offered in zero tailpipe emission form sooner rather than later.
In fact, Porsche says that by 2025 more than half of all the new cars it sells will be electrified (pure EV or plug-in hybrid) with a target that by 2030 80 per cent of its new car deliveries will be fully electric models.
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