Porsche Macan 4 Electric 2025 Review

At the entry point of the new Macan Electric range is a rear-wheel drive variant priced from $128,400 plus on-road costs (ORCs), but the version we’re looking at is one step up, with the Macan 4 benefitting from two e-motors and all-wheel drive for $134,400 plus ORCs.

Keep moving up the range and there are higher-performance options such as the 4S ($149,300 plus ORCs) and Turbo ($184,400 plus ORCs), with corresponding increases in standard equipment. Expect other variants to go into the mix in the future too.

Included in the price for the mid-range Macan is a very good level of equipment including its dual-motor, all-wheel-drive system, supported by a large 100-kilowatt-hour battery and an 800-volt main electrical system.

As with every Porsche, it’s possible to go completely nuts in the long list of catalogue options. And that’s exactly what we have here, with our test vehicle equipped with nicer leather for $3350, 22-inch machine-finished wheels which are about $2000 each, and a head-up display costing $4000 – expensive but well worth it, as we’ll explain later. Our test vehicle’s Provence paint is an extra $2880, adding an intriguing purple/grey pearl effect that is the signature colour of the new Macan family.

Along with a decent list of other additional bits and pieces, such as decorative touches inside and out, this particular Macan has added another $38,000 on top of the base price, taking the bottom line to $171,260 plus on-road costs.

Customers shopping for the previous combustion-powered Macan could easily indulge in a similarly extensive selection of extras, but the starting price was lower across the board. And while the second-generation is still the most affordable Porsche in the family, even with an electric powertrain, it’s about $20,000 more expensive measure-for-measure.

As it’s the Macan 4, this version has two drive motors and all-wheel drive instead of the entry single rear-drive variant. The e-motors are powered by a 100kWh battery which is big and, importantly, Porsche uses an advanced 800V electrical system over the more outdated 400V tech for faster charge times, better range and higher performance.

A leather upholstered interior is standard and can accommodate up to five adults, while decent comfort features are included such as four-zone climate control, a large panoramic roof, and plenty of storage.

Non-metallic black and white are the only colours offered for no extra cost, with all 12 others ranging from $1800 to $5470 (you can also have your Macan matched to a sample for $18,310). Our test vehicle has the aforementioned Provence hue, which adds $2880.

If you don’t like the standard wheels or the ones we have here, there are nine alternative designs to choose from including a version of these Exclusive Design rims with ‘carbon aeroblades’ for $14,830.

Silky air suspension is offered for an additional $2830 but ours is rolling on the standard steel springs.

Porsche offers a three-year warranty on all new cars which is low compared with some of the mainstream marques but about average among luxury brands. That said, there is an eight-year or 160,000km guarantee on the battery – again, fairly standard.

Servicing intervals are long at 24 months or 30,000km, whichever comes first.

The 2024 Porsche Macan has not been awarded a safety rating by the main vehicle safety assessor in Australia.

It’s not unusual for Porsche to refrain from putting one of its models through the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) as it’s a relatively low volume manufacturer, and therefore far harder for the company to recover the significant costs involved in achieving a safety rating.

However, ANCAP’s European equivalent Euro NCAP has evaluated the new Macan model and awarded it a full five-star rating. It scored particularly well in occupant protection, with a 90 per cent rating for both children and adults.

Standard safety equipment levels are high. There’s autonomous emergency braking that senses the most vulnerable road users and can provide steering assistance, a 360-degree camera, trailer sway prevention, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assistance, driver attention monitoring and traffic-sign recognition.

Unlike some challenger brands, which appear to regard driver assistance technology as a box-ticking exercise, the Macan’s features work really well in practice. Exactly why Euro NCAP deemed the Macan’s suite of safety technology as ‘very good’ overall and in almost all areas.

A 10-speaker sound system is standard as is the impressive 10.9-inch central touchscreen that’s paired with the 12.6-inch fully digital driver’s display, but our car had been optioned with another 10.9-inch screen in front of the passenger.

Other standard inclusions are electric adjustable front seats with memory, wireless smartphone mirroring for both Android and Apple, keyless entry and start, adaptive LED headlights, navigation, adaptive dampers and 20-inch wheels.

You’ll have to pay an extra $4120 to get it, but the augmented reality (AR) head-up display is worth it, projecting animated information onto the windscreen for the driver such as upcoming navigation instructions and even virtual road edges which pulse and glow if the car thinks you’re getting a bit close. It’s very impressive.

At the heart of the 2025 Porsche Macan 4 is a 100kWh battery that has a useable capacity of 96kWh thanks in part to its nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion composition. It powers a pair of permanent magnet electric motors for variable all-wheel drive, producing peak outputs of up to 300kW and 650Nm when using overboost power with launch control, or up to 285kW in regular driving.

Porsche claims the Macan will get to 100km/h from a standstill in 5.2 seconds on its way to a top speed of 220km/h, which is plenty on both counts.

The crucial difference between any Porsche EV and many other electric cars is that its drive system operates on 800 volts while many others utilise a 400V architecture. This has distinct advantages such as faster charge times, which is particularly important when topping up such a large battery.

Its maker claims a fill from 10 to 80 per cent is possible in 46 minutes when using a 120kW DC charger. That might sound like a long time compared with others, but when you consider the Macan has a claimed range of 624km, that equates to 500km of range in about three quarters of an hour.

Furthermore, maximum charging power is 270kW available through the car’s dedicated charge port (it has one for low power and another for high speed), which slashes that time to 21 minutes. That’s about as good as it gets in the EV world.

Or, with a 7.0kW home charger, the Macan can have a full charge in about 13 hours. With a reasonable mix of driving, our Macan returned an energy consumption pretty much bang on the maker’s claim of 17.0kWh/100km.

Some of the many reasons the first-generation Macan drew such a large and loyal audience included its sub-$100,000 price, the fact it wore a Porsche badge and that it drove like one too. Even though it shared a lot of mechanicals from the Volkswagen Group parts bin, including its MLB platform, it managed to feel all its own.

Fortunately, the same goes for the new one. For now, its PPE platform isn’t shared with much – just the Audi A6 and Q6 models at the time of writing – but it won’t stay that way forever. However, the Macan has a good chance of continuing the previous Macan’s legacy with plenty of features that feel uniquely Porsche.

The steering is sweet, having just enough weight away from a pleasantly light dead-ahead position to feel sporty but not as heavy as a 911, which would be silly in a mid-sized SUV. Its ride also strikes a good balance of firm but not punishing, enhanced by the standard adaptive dampers.

Our car had not been treated to the optional air suspension, which we’re certain is a deliberate brag on Porsche’s part because the ride on conventional coils is unusually good for a vehicle that weighs 2.3 tonnes and likes to boogie.

There’s enough controlled body movement to let you know the Macan is a high-riding vehicle that doesn’t try to hide the fact with over-engineered chassis tech. This car is for doing the grocery shop, school run and a blast through country roads – not setting records at the Nurburgring.

Push the Porsche hard and it will start to lose its cool, with each corner fighting its own individual fight for road contact and the weight becoming apparent at the fringes. But it takes a concerted effort to get to that point and you don’t need to drive it anywhere near that hard to have a lot of fun.

An honourable mention has to go to the brake pedal, which isn’t quite as glorious as some petrol-powered Porsches but has an unusually firm and progressive feel that almost all regenerative brake systems struggle to replicate.

Outlay $184,400 and Porsche will sell you a Macan Turbo with a 470kW/1130Nm drivetrain capable of transdimensional travel, but don’t let that make the Macan 4’s 300kW/650Nm performance seem impotent by comparison. Acceleration is rapid and the Macan 4 will execute overtaking moves with savage efficiency.

It’s also worth pointing out that, measure-for-measure, the Macan 4 is significantly faster than its previous, combustion-powered equivalent – so does that warrant the price premium alone?

It’s clear that, from start to finish, the needs of the average SUV user have been considered in the Macan 4, with those needs interwoven with the soul of a Porsche without unreasonable compromise. Porsche deserves maximum credit for that.

Like its manners on the road, the Macan’s interior is unmistakably Porsche – from the appointment of materials and finish to its purposeful ergonomics and even the distinct ‘eau-de-Porsche’ scent from its high-quality hide upholstery.

The electrically adjustable front seats are sporty without being ostentatious; they’re ergonomically well designed for a purposeful driving position while providing good access to all controls and storage.

It’s just a little sad to see Porsche’s traditional turn-key start not incorporated into the Macan cabin, but the fully digital display, despite being entirely virtual, maintains a little of the heritage Porsche aesthetic with the curved customisable layout displaying gauges if you want them.

A small sporty steering wheel looks and feels as though it’s from a Cayman and not an SUV, the Sport Chrono pack adds a seriously classy clock/stopwatch to the dashboard and there’s the right ratio of actual mechanical switches, flat haptic feedback buttons, and touchscreen controls.

Classy ambient lighting adds to the beautifully trimmed interior at night and, while it’s not completely clear where the value of the passenger digital display lies, it certainly looks impressive.

A strong technological offering awaits the occupant with a smooth and intuitive user interface that never glitches and has a heap of information and entertainment options.

Native navigation is a bonus, while the Chrono application is for the most committed driving enthusiast and allows race tracks to be downloaded into the system for recording lap times and other performance parameters. You can even use a record function to create your own. Perhaps the Nurburgring wasn’t such a silly idea after all.

The back seats are similarly premium with more lovely leather and an optional dual-zone digital climate control panel (or just vents if that box isn’t ticked). Space is generous for heads and feet but knee room is restricted, while storage options are also limited in the back.

Perhaps it was the larger optional wheels or the steel spring suspension, but the Macan lets a little more road noise though to the cabin than we expected. Wind noise is almost completely absent and the drivetrain produces no significant sounds beyond the synthetically produced Sport note (for which you’ll pay extra).

A 540-litre boot is about average for the segment and is expandable to 1348L through 40/20/40-split folding rear seats. There are a good number of tie-down points and LED lighting for the load area but there’s no spare of any kind. Extra storage is offered under the bonnet, where there’s enough space for charge cables but that’s about it.

It’s wrong to assume that Porsche buyers have bottomless pockets and will gladly pay the significant price rise over the previous Macan even if it is faster, dynamically sharper and packed full of space and technology (which it is). It remains the entry point to the coveted marque and its price is subsequently critical.

While it’s still the most affordable Porsche, a starting price that now starts at appreciably over six figures will doubtless create a roadblock for many – some potential buyers may explore other avenues, search its cheaper rivals, or look to the resoundingly excellent Cayenne family. The latter is bigger and more expensive but not by much – and you can still have petrol power.

However, the transition into electric power represents an admirable step in the Macan’s evolution. Rather than a tentative testing of the water, Porsche dived in headfirst and the result is a fully committed, comprehensive package that, while on the pricey side, is arguably impossible to beat for the cash.

At a time when a growing number of electric SUVS are feeling like homogenised, badge-engineered clones, offering something that stands alone with its own clear points of difference is a rare and valuable attribute.

2025 Porsche Macan 4 Electric at a glance:
Price: $134,400 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motors
Output: 285kW/650Nm (300kW/650Nm with launch control and overboost)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 100kWh NMC lithium-ion
Range: 624km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 17.0kWh/100km (ADR)
Safety rating: Not tested

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