While it’s been four years since first deliveries of the Porsche’s first electric car, the Taycan, something even more revolutionary for the brand is about to happen: transforming Porsche’s bestseller to an EV, with tech from the Taycan.
That bestseller is the gasoline-powered Macan SUV, which surged to the front of the sports-car maker's pack ever since its arrival ten years ago—and deliveries of the electric version that's the new core of the lineup are due to start in summer 2024, as a 2024 model-year vehicle.
Porsche is turning the Macan lineup entirely into an EV lineup, but it won’t be overnight. It’s said that for North America, the current Macan and Macan Electric will be sold alongside each other for at least a year—and the gasoline Macan may continue in other global markets for several years.
But Porsche sees a big market for the Macan Electric, especially in the U.S. and China. That’s why it’s built the Macan Electric as a launch product for the company’s PPE (Premium Platform Electric), which taps into the best of the Taycan but adapts it for next-level mass-production.
PPE has been codeveloped between Audi and Porsche, but with the latter in the lead. It'll underpin a series of upcoming models like the Audi Q6 E-Tron, but more immediately, here for Porsche, PPE allows the Macan to learn from Taycan range and efficiency shortcomings. Porsche has emphasized that even the highest-performance version of the Macan will be able to achieve 311 miles of range or better on the European WLTP cycle—likely beyond 250 miles. Look for other versions in the lineup to do quite a bit better, though.
Porsche Macan EV
To get there, the Porsche has employed some fresh thinking to the entire platform, seemingly starting with the layout of the battery pack. Like the Taycan, the electric Macan will hit a maximum of 270 kw when DC fast-charging—and it will charge its 100-kwh battery pack from 10-80% in just 22 minutes, with the capability to add about 62 miles of range in just four minutes. But with a “bank charging” approach that effectively splits the 800-volt battery into two 400-volt batteries, it will charge much faster than the Taycan in many real-world situations.
The 2024 Porsche Macan EV will mark the debut of a new generation of nickel cobalt manganese (8:1:1) lithium-ion batteries with higher energy density. The battery pack itself has 12 modules, each containing 15 prismatic cells in series, and it’s protected by a carbon-fiber underguard.
With a 6-kw battery heater it offers robust preconditioning to tap into the peak rate when needed, and Porsche claims that it can maintain peak charging power for a longer portion of the charging curve than other rivals.
Porsche Macan fast-charging - PPE platform
Porsche has hinted that at least one model in its near future will fully utilize 400-kw fast-charging. While the Macan isn’t it, Porsche is building its own fast-charging network—so far limited for Europe
Efficiency and performance are enabled together in the Macan EV with reengineered power electronics, plus a new generation of permanent-magnet electric motors making up to 603 hp and more than 737 lb-ft of torque. In addition to improved cooling for these designs, Porsche has wound the stators’ wires differently for the front versus rear motors. Porsche now boasts that it can recuperate up to 240 kw as part of brake regeneration—almost as much as the Taycan’s peak 290 kw.
Porsche Macan PSM motors - PPE platform
Further, Porsche has reduced the size of its power electronics, with silicon carbide material for the pulse investor at the rear axle. It’s packaging the onboard charger, high-voltage heater, and DC/DC converter within a single Integrated Power Box to save weight and help with packaging, and Porsche says that at launch it will offer 11-kw AC charging.
The Macan Electric promises to make the most of it in ride and handling tuning, from the same braintrust that brings the 911 and 718. It has adaptive damping plus a double-wishbone front suspension with “detached strut levels” and a multi-link setup in back, combined with an elastically mounted subframe. Some also get an air suspension. Porsche says top-performance versions will attach the rear drive unit directly to the body, helping with driving dynamics.
Porsche Macan EV
There’s also rear-wheel steering, cutting the turning circle to just 36.4 feet. The system aids maneuverability at lower speeds by moving the rear wheels opposite the fronts up to five degrees, while enhancing stability at 50 mph on up by moving the rear slightly in the same direction. That’s combined with a quicker front steering ratio.
Porsche Macan EV
The 2024 Macan Electric will also debut a “new Porsche driver experience,” with a freestanding 12.6-inch curved display atop the dash and easily within the line of sight for the driver, while there’s a 10.9-inch passenger display that can’t be seen by the driver. A head-up display with augmented-reality displays is also offered for the first time on a Porsche model, and Porsche is using a strip of 56 LEDs running through the forward portion of the cabin to help communicate about charging or active-safety systems.
