On Thursday, Porsche took the wraps off the Macan EV, a long-delayed project that will test whether consumers are still motivated by an electric vehicle that costs more than $78,000.
The revelation comes at a pivotal time for Porsche — and many other automakers. Demand for expensive electric vehicles has waned in recent months, prompting some automakers to shift to hybrid vehicles and cut back on costly factory battery designs.
The Porsche Macan EV provides the ideal testing ground for gauging consumer sentiment — which will become reality when the company begins deliveries of the all-electric compact SUV in the second half of the year. The The Porsche Macan EV will not only go up against the best-selling gas-powered Macan, but it will also be more expensive.
The Porsche Macan EV will be offered in two variants: the Macan 4 and the Macan Turbo (yes, Porsche is still keeping its heritage badge even though this is an EV). The Macan 4 starts at $78,800 and the Macan Turbo at $105,300, prices not including the $1,650 delivery, processing and handling fee. Meanwhile, the gas-powered Macan starts at $62,550 and tops out at $88,450 for its most expensive trim.
Porsche North America President and CEO Timo Resch doesn’t see a conflict and instead sees an opportunity to give customers more choice.
“Ultimately, it’s a customer choice,” Resch told TechCrunch in a recent interview, adding that early in the process, Porsche customers think about their driving style and habits. “For what I want to do, is it more on the internal combustion engine side or am I on the battery electric side? And then that pretty much decides which direction you go. I think this is the way forward, and for Porsche, there couldn’t be any other direction because we always try to make the customer and their decision and their desire for our product our highest priority.”
Nuts and bolts
Image Credits: Porsche
Porsche has revealed specs for the future Macan EV since 2019, when the company first announced it would convert its best-selling vehicle in the US to an electric vehicle. He even let TechCrunch and other media drive the prototype last year. With the official launch, Porsche released more details about the two Macan EVs with the exception of battery range. The company said the EPA series figures will be available closer to the delivery date.
The Macan EV is Porsche’s second all-electric vehicle and the first to use the newly developed Premium Platform Electric (or PPE), which was developed in collaboration with Audi AG and is designed for the manufacturer to easily adjust the wheelbase, width of the route and the distance from the ground. .
The automaker sells two versions of the electric SUV, both equipped with electric motors on the front and rear axles, which draw power from a 100-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery located under the vehicle.
First up is the Macan 4, an all-electric SUV equipped with a powertrain that can produce up to 402 horsepower and 479 pound-feet or torque. The Macan 4 can accelerate from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 136 mph.
As the name suggests, the most powerful Macan Turbo can produce up to 630 horsepower and a peak torque of 833 lb-ft. This also translates to faster acceleration. the Macan Turbo can travel from 0 to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds and a top track speed of 161 mph.
It is worth noting that the Porsche Macan EV is the first Macan to feature rear-axle steering. As we noted in our test last year, the rear wheels turn up to five degrees opposite the front wheels when driving at speeds of about 50 mph or slower, which allows the driver to feel the car as it turns corners.
Android software
Another notable feature is the software, meaning it’s not the 1.2 software platform developed — and repeatedly delayed — by the VW Group’s Cariad software unit. The 1.2 software was created specifically for the Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 E-Tron and was originally scheduled to be completed in 2022. Cariad pushed the release date to the end of 2023 to be ready for the 2024 VW models when Peter took over Bosch in May. Now it looks like the 1.2 software platform won’t be in cars until at least 2025.
That left Porsche hanging, and eventually the automaker turned to Google. The infotainment system of the Porsche Macan EV is based on Android Automotive OS, which is modeled after Google’s open source mobile operating system running on Linux. Not to be confused with Android Auto, an app that runs on the user’s phone that communicates wirelessly and displays navigation, parking, media and messages on the vehicle’s infotainment system, or Google Embedded, which is powered by Android Automotive’s operating system and integrates Google services directly into the vehicle.
The Android Automotive OS essentially allows Porsche to create and integrate its own products and services, such as navigation and apps. It also supports Apple CarPlay, which allows owners of Apple phones to project onto the infotainment screen.
“The technological advantages are very obvious and can be felt by our customers as soon as they get into the car,” said Timo, who did not give any information about the delay of the 1.2 software or whether Porsche would ever adopt it. “When they get into the Macan electric, it feels like a very fast, very intuitive Porsche user interface, because in terms of the look and feel, the icons, everything else, it’s familiar to the Porsche look and feel.”
