Porsche Macan reveal confirmed for next week
In the grand scheme of things, the Taycan was an amuse-bouche - Porsche's real electric era starts January 25th
While the idea of a battery-powered Macan has been around long enough now to eliminate any element of surprise, it’s hard to overstate what a big deal this is. Porsche has made an electric car before, of course, but anyone unconvinced by the Taycan still had the Panamera available as a combustion alternative. Now the enormously popular small SUV, having never offered up anything more environmentally friendly than a 2.0-litre turbo (because the architecture was so old), will only be offered as an EV. Perhaps the notion isn’t quite as ambitious as it might have been even five years ago, but still - it’s a lot.
Now we know that the fully electric Macan will be revealed to the world next Thursday, January 25th, confirmed by Porsche with a teaser pic on its customer site that suggests the trademark Macan rear light bar has been retained. Porsche likes maintaining its recognisable design cues, of course - and for those hundreds of thousands of Macan customers thinking about making the switch to an EV, the familiar look will probably be welcome. Elsewhere, the development pics show a front light signature that actually looks a little like the 963 LMDh car, plus there’s a bit of Cayenne to the back of it as well. Inevitably packing in a 100kWh battery has bulked out the smaller Porsche SUV somewhat, though even clad in disguise there’s no mistaking what this is. And more space inside feels pretty much essential for an all-new Macan.
Of course, such a significant new model has been subjected to every possible extreme of testing, from minus 30 in Scandinavia to plus 50 in Death Valley. Porsche reckons more than 3,500,000km have been racked up in testing on road and off it, so even the gnarliest of farm shop car parks should pose no problem for the new Macan. It’ll be road-focused, sure, though if these pics are to be believed then there might be some proper off-road ability lurking in the new EV as well.
Aerodynamics are said to have played a big part in the Macan’s development, most notably with a drag co-efficient that’s dropped from 0.35 to 0.25 - which must be one of the single biggest improvements from one generation to the next. That will have benefits for range (all models will do more than 310 miles on a charge) as well as refinement. It’s been achieved through a lot of wind tunnel testing plus Porsche Active Aerodynamics including an extending rear spoiler and active cooling flaps. The new Macan has an entirely flat floor underneath, too - that’s how serious the aero obsession has been. The tyres have ‘aerodynamically optimised’ contours, the wheels are ‘largely closed’ and there are flexible fairings that can ‘ensure low air resistance when rebounding’.
There isn’t any additional info on the powertrain for the moment, though the confirmed numbers have always looked very competitive: 603hp on overboost, more than 738lb ft with Launch Control, two permanently excited axles and 270kW charging. This will also be the first Macan with rear-axle steering, plus it will borrow the two-valve damper tech used to such effectiveness in the latest Cayenne.
Speaking of which, Porsche has an image of the Macan interior on the customer site already, which borrows very heavily from the larger SUV. It features the drive selector up by the steering wheel, the passenger display and revised centre stack. Completely different from how we know the Macan at the moment, yet instantly familiar given the groundwork laid by recent previous Porsches. Don’t be surprised if that’s how the whole car turns out, in fact. We’ll know a whole lot more come next week.
Weird that these days a sort of small ish SUV type thing with 603 bhp and 730 lb ft doesnt raise an eyebrow.
Thats going to be rather brisk and as you say, Taycans may look a bit less appealing (Apreciate its a different market but there will be some crossover) I'm not really into cars like this, but of all of them the Macan is the most appealing, there is a pleasing look to tit and its the right sort of size for not being a complete behemoth but still being useful for most.
That said, the glut of Taycans out there that seem to be finding homes about as easily as XL Bullies does make you wonder if its a good move ?
I could see her considering one in the future (5+ years off as we’ve only just bought a replacement) if it doesn’t have similar issues and Porsche somehow manage to convince her that the service will be better.
Weird that these days a sort of small ish SUV type thing with 603 bhp and 730 lb ft doesnt raise an eyebrow.
Thats going to be rather brisk and as you say, Taycans may look a bit less appealing (Apreciate its a different market but there will be some crossover) I'm not really into cars like this, but of all of them the Macan is the most appealing, there is a pleasing look to tit and its the right sort of size for not being a complete behemoth but still being useful for most.
That said, the glut of Taycans out there that seem to be finding homes about as easily as XL Bullies does make you wonder if its a good move ?
the mg x power with 430hp for £35k sets the benchmark imo
I think they'll sell tons of these cars as company car leases
Rumours that the starting price will be north of £90,000.
EV's depreciate far too much for anyone to actually buy one of these new privately.
Porsches best selling car, will soon not be the best selling. Not in EV only countries anyway.
This rush for technology squeezed into an unrealistic time frame might kill the big car companies we love along with mass mobility. I'm not skint and always had a chance to own a decent new car model but these days I'm just priced out of the future according to this legislation dictated "progress".
Rumours that the starting price will be north of £90,000.
EV's depreciate far too much for anyone to actually buy one of these new privately.
Porsches best selling car, will soon not be the best selling. Not in EV only countries anyway.
It remains to be seen how well this one will do but I swopped my Macan GTS for a Taycan 4S. The Taycan handled better and was so much faster.
I have a few friend who run Macans. All private buyers and without exception all bought used 1-3 years old so unlikely to buy a new car of any type.
He wanted rid and Audi offered him £22k trade in, he has now gone for a Q5 petrol. Many consumers just want ( not need ) the latest things, hence all these monstrosities , EV and other on our roads.
This rush for technology squeezed into an unrealistic time frame might kill the big car companies we love along with mass mobility. I'm not skint and always had a chance to own a decent new car model but these days I'm just priced out of the future according to this legislation dictated "progress".
Rumours that the starting price will be north of £90,000.
EV's depreciate far too much for anyone to actually buy one of these new privately.
Porsches best selling car, will soon not be the best selling. Not in EV only countries anyway.
It remains to be seen how well this one will do but I swopped my Macan GTS for a Taycan 4S. The Taycan handled better and was so much faster.
I have a few friend who run Macans. All private buyers and without exception all bought used 1-3 years old so unlikely to buy a new car of any type.
As one of the earlier comments suggested, used Taycan prices are about to crash even harder, as EV technology is more like mobile phone technology, and who wants a three-year-old phone?
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