2025 Porsche Macan Electric Prototype First Drive Review: Shockwave Successor

[kobayashiGT]

Source: https://www.motor1.com/reviews/690621/2025-porsche-macan-ev-review/

Welcome to the future. The future of Porsche, at least, and Audi, too, eventually. Underneath that whisp of cladding and all the black vinyl is the new, all-electric Porsche Macan, the first product built upon Volkswagen Group's Premium Platform Electric. PPE is set to deliver a new generation of high-end electric Porsches and Audis to boot. After a day of hustling a prototype of the new Macan around California roads, I'm here to say that the future is looking bright.

Bright, but also perhaps a bit murky. While this is an EV Macan, it won't be called "Macan EV" or "Macan Electric." It's just called Macan, and while it is set to enter the market in early 2025, the internally combusted Macan isn't going away. Yes, you'll have your choice of not one but two models built on two different platforms, both called Macan, at dealerships soon.

Confusing? A smidge, yeah, but this is very definitely the one you'll want.

The Next Generation

 

When it comes to first acts, it's hard to do better than the Taycan. Porsche's first EV made the transition from luscious concept to desirable production machine smoother than most. It'll be a hard act to follow, but from what I just experienced behind the wheel, the new Macan won't be lingering in the second-album doldrums.

Let's get some of the critical figures out of the way first – or as many as we can, at least. Porsche is still playing its cards pretty close to its chest on this one, so we're not quite dealing with a full deck. The electric Macan's PPE platform will deliver a battery pack with a capacity of around 100.0 kilowatt-hours, with a range that Porsche says will test "well beyond" 500 kilometers on the European WLTP test.

That equates to somewhere north of 310 miles of range, a significant boost over the Taycan's current maximum rating of 246 miles. However, that is on the rather more challenging EPA test cycle. With all that uncertainty, it's difficult to say what the Macan's US, EPA-rated range will be, but somewhere in the 275 to 300 mile range seems reasonable.

And how about power? All Macans will be all-wheel drive with a dual-motor setup, but three different power levels will be available. Porsche has yet to figure out just how to brand this thing, but you can imagine it arriving in dealers as something like a Macan 4, 4S, and Turbo to follow current Taycan branding.

Porsche again doesn't have specific power figures available, but I was told the top-shelf Turbo trim would manage around 450 kilowatts. That's just a tick over 600 horsepower. The top-shelf Macan GTS today offers 434 hp. That is a healthy jump, to say the least.

That power will surely come with a considerable increase over the GTS's roughly 4,400-pound curb weight, too, but Porsche hasn't confirmed a figure. And, just to round out all the TBDs, we don't have pricing on the electric Macan either, but don't be surprised if it starts above the Macan GTS, which currently has an MSRP north of $85,000.

Monster Macan

 

Now that we've established all the unknowns let's dig into the known: This thing is a monster. I drove a variety of flavors of electric Macan on a beautiful day hustling through the Malibu hills, but I started in a model that Porsche's engineers would only describe as "top" trim. That meant all the power, all the handling goodies, and the air suspension, lacking only the rear steering option.

So, that meant somewhere north of 600 hp put to the road through two electric motors. Unlike on Taycan, the rear motor no longer has a two-speed transmission, but it is augmented by an active rear differential with torque vectoring.

I started my day, as so many SoCal drivers do, stuck in traffic, dawdling along over some questionably paved stretches of asphalt. My first impressions were of a car that's remarkably compliant and comfortable for commuting. It's quiet, too, as you'd expect an EV to be, but given this was such an early prototype, I'd expected some squeaks and rattles or some degree of excessive road noise. There wasn't a hint.

The roads cleared as I got out of town. As the asphalt started snaking, I was able to pick up the pace. Dropping the Macan into Sport mode delivers an immediate and noticeable change in character. The throttle response immediately sharpens, the suspension likewise stops being so soft and starts getting real.

After being nearly lulled to sleep in earlier gridlock, I confess I was not expecting the new Macan to be such a powerhouse in the turns. The harder I pushed, the better it responded, really coming alive when I twisted the mode dial over to Sport Plus.

Soon I was comfortable enough to have the all-season Continental tires at both axles squealing in complaint through the corners. The Macan did remarkably well at managing the grip from those increasingly overtaxed tires. Yes, the Macan tended to understeer, but in the sort of safe, predictable way that makes sense for a car like this.

That understeer wasn't terminal by any means. Turning the wheel a little more and adding a little throttle resulted in the nose coming around every time, that rear differential doing its magic. Oversteer was easy to provoke, and the Porsche's various stability management systems were kind enough to let me enjoy it. In hours of overly aggressive driving, tires squealing, I only felt one significant intervention.

And the power? Addictive. On Sport Plus, the throttle is incredibly sharp, the kind of delivery that may cause neck injuries for passengers not receiving fair warning before you step on it. The power requires some modulation as you accelerate out of tight corners, but that rear differential does a lot of work to keep the thing moving in the right direction.

I later sampled cars with the rear-steering system, and that just added more agility to the mix. It's paired with an even sharper variable steering ratio to make the car feel almost too eager to get to the apex, a feeling that is utterly addictive.

And the less-powerful electric Macans? While they certainly lacked the eye-opening thrust of that top Turbo (or whatever Porsche calls it), they're still properly quick. Their accelerative performance should be easily on par with any of the internally combusted Macans.

The feeling across the range there is equally good when it comes to braking. The brake pedal has confidence-inspiring firmness yet still enough travel to comfortably work through traffic without complaint from back-seat passengers.

That feel, though, is entirely synthetic. The electric Macan uses a brake-by-wire pedal system that, behind the scenes, relies on electric regenerative braking as much as possible before seamlessly calling in some help from the physical brakes. Thanks to the Macan's 800-volt battery system, the car can pull a lot of juice from those motors during regen, meaning you'll only need the physical brakes under serious decel.

If and when the brake performance is degraded due to temperature or the like, a Porsche engineer told me the pedal feel will modulate to give feedback to the driver. But, on a hard, hot day of charging through the California hills, I never felt a hint of fade, simulated or otherwise.

Sadly, though, there's one fly in this ointment: one-pedal driving. Porsche is still sticking to its guns: If you want to slow down, you'll need to move your foot from accelerator to brake. I can't argue with the engineers that it may be the more efficient way to drive, but then you also can't argue that PDK transmissions are quicker and more efficient than manuals, and yet Porsche is quite proud to offer those to its sports car enthusiasts.

Plenty of electric car enthusiasts prefer one-pedal driving, myself very much included, and as Porsche gets more serious about EVs, it'd be nice if the company acknowledged that. After all, adding a high-regen mode is a heck of a lot simpler than adding a third pedal.

[Soya]

I dare not ask how much is the road tax surcharge to go 'green'....

 

[inlinesix]

Current road tax for ICE is outdated.  It should be synchronised with EV road tax rate

Macan road tax is $1,193.

If it is based on EV road tax, it should be $1,300

[Lethalstrike]

On 10/10/2023 at 11:30 AM, inlinesix said:

Current road tax for ICE is outdated.  It should be synchronised with EV road tax rate

Macan road tax is $1,193.

If it is based on EV road tax, it should be $1,300

Super outdated in fact. VES Band A1 zero CO2 tailpipe emissions BYD Atto 3 EV pay $1,500, but a VES Band C2 Merc A45 AMG with 2.0L turbo 4 pay only $1,200 annually. 

132 hp (Atto 3) vs 410 hp (A45 AMG). Makes absolutely zero sense for EV, except being a cash grab for LTA and MOF 🤣

Edited October 10, 2023 by Lethalstrike

[inlinesix]

 

[inlinesix]

Super long video

 

[Tohto]

On 10/10/2023 at 11:30 AM, inlinesix said:

Current road tax for ICE is outdated.  It should be synchronised with EV road tax rate

Macan road tax is $1,193.

If it is based on EV road tax, it should be $1,300

Mai give our scholars new suggestion leh....

[Swisspot]

29/12 update:
No updates from any personnel from Porsche. Call in roadside assistance and check still without a replacement car available and i am the 9th on the waiting list. So imagine how many faulty vehicle they are dealing with now.

The worse decision in my 10 years car of ownership is to purchase a Porsche from Authorised Distributor - Eurokars.

My 2 years old Macan 3 purchased in 2021 Nov suddenly pop up error “Engine Control fault” on 24 december while i start my engine. Totally can’t move off. Call the 24/7 assistance, they don’t have basic knowledge, keep mention that they can only send tow truck to tow the car to the workshop.

Luckily after more than 10 tries manage to get the car back to normal. Between 24/12 to 27/12 the will error pop up once awhile but restart a few tries can drive on.

Fast forward to 27/1 evening, while I was driving on flyer overs the error suddenly pops up, this time while the car is moving, you cant accelerate, have to be really careful and pull the car over to the shoulder which is very dangerous as all the cars are moving quite fast.

Long story short, tow the car to the workshop, expect repair after 1 week and ask if there is any courtesy car customer service says will only provide if there are availability. Not happy bunch of people working behind this company. Don’t expect any help as they will just repeat they standard template answer and leave you hanging there.

Not because we pay premium price to get premium service. All we need is help and basic assistance but we dont get it here from this brand. 100% disappointment from the reliability of the brand and 200% disappointment from the after sales support.

Trust me with the amount of $ you pay, you wont want such a bad support, unhappiness and incoveniences. Buy at your own risk.

[inlinesix]

 

[Atachi]

Porsche is finally unveiling the Macan EV this week, its latest sketches show an early look

[Watwheels]

Can register it as an electrical appliance and not a car?

No need to pay coe and relevant taxes.

[hansmith]

S$254,888 COE excluded. Macan 4 EV.

S$388,088 COE excluded. Turbo.

Porsche showroom at bugis.

Edited January 25 by hansmith

[RadX]

On 1/23/2024 at 8:48 AM, Watwheels said:

Can register it as an electrical appliance and not a car?

No need to pay coe and relevant taxes.

lol..

 

looks like a grown up Taycan

 

Anyway, find it cheap...but hor....SUV...mai la mai

[ccc888]

On 1/26/2024 at 6:37 AM, RadX said:

lol..

 

looks like a grown up Taycan

 

Anyway, find it cheap...but hor....SUV...mai la mai

Internal struggling is real.

[inlinesix]

Why Macan follows Purosangue headlight

[Atachi]

[DreamyLucid]

On 10/10/2023 at 4:45 PM, Lethalstrike said:

Super outdated in fact. VES Band A1 zero CO2 tailpipe emissions BYD Atto 3 EV pay $1,500, but a VES Band C2 Merc A45 AMG with 2.0L turbo 4 pay only $1,200 annually. 

132 hp (Atto 3) vs 410 hp (A45 AMG). Makes absolutely zero sense for EV, except being a cash grab for LTA and MOF 🤣

That higher road tax for EV comes from the part where they cannot "carbon tax" the EV 😁

[DreamyLucid]

On 1/26/2024 at 6:10 AM, hansmith said:

S$254,888 COE excluded. Macan 4 EV.

S$388,088 COE excluded. Turbo.

Porsche showroom at bugis.

I think the Macan 4 EV is quite nicely priced for Singapore context. Some EVs from the Big 3 Germany are selling at that price too, inclusive of COE