Porsche Macan goes all-electric

We expect Porsche’s third electric-only model to be the all-new Cayman and Boxster twins, due in the next 18 months or so. The pair will be among a new breed of EV sports cars – for some the natural progression for such machines, for others a contradiction in terms.

The company’s first electric model was, of course, the Taycan, a world-class luxury EV. Its second? Revealed today, the all-new Macan shuns internal combustion altogether in favour of electric motors.

Only the Macan 4 and Macan Turbo have been shown so far, both featuring 100kWh battery packs offering up to 380 miles of range (combined). With a little over 400bhp from its pair of motors, the Macan 4 will sprint to 62mph in a brisk 5.1 seconds. Meanwhile the 630bhp Macan Turbo will dispatch 62mph in just 3.3 seconds. They can be fast charged at up to 270kW, assuming you can find a charge station that’ll deliver electrons that quickly.

The Macan uses Porsche’s new 800-volt Premium Platform Electric architecture, which will underpin future Porsche EVs too. Air springs are standard equipment on the Macan Turbo (conventional coils are fitted to the Macan 4) while rear-axle steering is available optionally for the first time on Porsche’s smaller SUV. The Turbo gets a torque vectoring rear differential to add some degree of agility – helping, perhaps, to keep the Macan atop the sporting SUV pile.

‘Thanks to its particularly sporty seat position and low centre of gravity, as well as its impressive driving dynamics and steering precision, the new Macan delivers a real sports car feeling,’ reckons Product Line Vice President Jörg Kerner. We’ll wait to find out for ourselves, but one piece of information Porsche hasn’t disclosed for now is weight. Up to 2500kg, given the size of the battery pack? Don’t bet against it…

Inside you find the usual array of shimmering digital displays – up to three of them, including one 10.9-inch screen in front of the passenger for streaming video content on the move. Not to be left out, the driver gets a head-up display with augmented reality elements for the first time, such as ‘navigation arrows visually integrated seamlessly into the real world’. The Macan 4 will cost from £69,800, the Macan Turbo rather more at £95,000.