Porsche Macan 4S takes on a lap of WA’s South West

Electric vehicles are a hot topic in Australia, especially in Western Australia where it often takes (or at least feels like) two days to get anywhere of significance.

Many argue we don’t have the charging infrastructure – abundance or reliability – to make EVs truly viable as replacements for internal combustion vehicles, while others reckon the limited range and comparatively slow charge times (vs ICE refuelling) undermine the residual appeal – think performance, refinement etc.

Here are the facts: EV sales are increasing, there are roughly 300 EV chargers in WA, including 110 that link Kununurra with Esperance, and diesel is dying.

The 2026 Porsche Macan 4S sits right in the middle of the second-generation Macan line-up on both price and performance, but it also happens to offer the second-longest cruising range: up to 619km (WLTP).

That’s an impressive number (on paper) for a 2345kg, dual-motor electric SUV packing 380kW/820Nm, but it’s made possible by a sizeable 100kWh (96kWh net) battery pack and slippery coupe-like body.

So we thought we’d put the theory to the test and undertake a real-world range test for what’s arguably the sweet spot of the Macan line-up, one that’d take us deep into the heart of Porsche SUV territory: WA’s South West.

The recipe for this challenge was perfectly simple: could we do a lap of WA’s famous South West tourist region, including some of its most picturesque and demanding roads, in the Goldilocks Macan on a single charge.

Our route would take us from North Yunderup, just outside Mandurah, to Augusta via the epic Balingup-Nannup Road, up the full length of Caves Road to Dunsborough, past Bunbury and back to our starting point; 567km of tourist drive bliss.

Knowing it’d be a tough ask, we’d allow ourselves a quick 10-minute fast charge if we were cutting it close – no longer than the average fuel stop an internal combustion vehicle (and driver) might need and a good test of the Macan’s DC fast charging abilities.

We started the day good and early, topping up the Macan at an Ampol public charger a couple of kilometres from the start of the Forrest Highway that’d take us south, and almost immediately there was a problem.

Fully charged and with the climate control off, our sporty electric chariot displayed a maximum predicted range of just 525km, despite essentially hypermiling it from Porsche Centre Perth the day prior.

That figure was 42km short of our route distance and 96km shy of the Macan’s WLTP claim… and it only had 800km or so showing on the clock.

Oh well, we had our 10-minute fast charge up our sleeve just in case…

Within an hour of departure we were skirting the edge of Bunbury on the freshly minted Wilman Wadandi Highway in sublime comfort, barely aware we’d just covered the best part of 100km in what felt like about 20 minutes – the Macan is certainly a handy cruiser.

But the reason for time flying wasn’t a pumping playlist or intriguing podcast; it was our hawk-like monitoring of the energy consumption.

We all know EVs aren’t at their most efficient on the open road, but our 4S was averaging 25kWh/100km in its most frugal mode, without the climate control in play and far from a full load – we weren’t hypermiling, but we were definitely driving at the more efficient end of reality.

That figure gave us a predicted range of just under 400km…

WA’s signature summer easterly wind was partly to blame here, but subsequent freeway stints in the same vehicle later that week returned similar figures (22-23kWh/100km) with noticeably less wind.

Things improved mildly as we rolled through the hills around Donnybrook – primarily due to the abundance of road trains and slow tourist drivers – and by the time we arrived in Balingup, the consumption was down to about 23.5kWh/100km.

More importantly however, Balingup marked the start of arguably WA’s most demanding driving road – one with blind crests, massive camber changes, elevation gain and loss, lost and late apexes, heavy braking zones, emus, stunning views and abrupt surface changes… in other words, Porsche country.

While this is hardly a review piece, it’d be remiss not to mention how enjoyable the Macan 4S was on this snaking 41km of goodness, even in its softest and most efficient settings.

The one thing working against Balingup-Nannup Road is that it’s rough in a couple of key sectors and can occasionally facilitate some violent introductions to the bump stops for the unwary or unfamiliar, especially in performance cars.

We had no such issues in the Macan however, primarily because we were on an efficiency run and (mostly) behaving ourselves, but also because of the sublimely tuned adaptive dampers and longer SUV suspension stroke.

The predominantly 80km/h speed limit, rolling undulations and diffused easterly wind meant our consumption had fallen into the low 20s by the time we trundled through Nannup, but it quickly crept back up to 24kWh/100km once we were back doing 110km/h on the wide and exposed Brockman Highway, heading for Augusta.

The next hour wafted past uneventfully and soon enough we’d arrived in Augusta, having covered 286km in a bit over three hours and used a startling 69 per cent of the battery (23.7kWh/100km).

With a predicted range of just 405km from a full charge, this was going to require a rethink… Especially considering a full charge wasn’t on the cards for the purpose of this test.

Put simply, a 10-minute top-up on a 50kW charger wasn’t going to get us home, so a new plan was hatched: we’d leave the Macan to charge while we went off for a bakery feed – standard road trip practice – and a quick walk down the main drag.

Some 35 minutes later, after demolishing a sub-par sausage roll and a milkshake, the Macan had been replenished with 23.95kWh of juicy charge and was ready to waft along the entire length of the iconic but infamous Caves Road…

But, based on the trip computer, we were still going to fall 21km short of our end point.

It was starting to sound like we were unknowingly part of a Top Gear script: a challenge is set; it doesn’t go to plan and then descends into an entertaining series of comical mishaps and near misses.

Never mind, let’s get at it.

Caves Road is one of the most famous tourist routes in WA, linking Augusta with Dunsborough as a stunning 94km coastal alternative to the inland, faster and comparatively boring Bussell Highway.

It meanders its way along the coast, past Hamelin Bay, the ancient Karri forests of Boranup, hundreds of limestone caves, Margaret River, Gracetown, Canal Rocks, Yallingup and Cape Naturaliste.

If you stick to the main road, Boranup Forest is easily the star of the bituminised show, so much so you don’t mind the speed limit being dropped from a leisurely 80km/h to 70 as you take in the thousands of white trunks and lush green canopy blanket.

It’s a stunning part of the world, even for a local, and the Macan made for an epic companion as it cruised silently, calmly and comfortably along the twisty tarmac. The ‘Adventure Green’ colourway also meant it looked at home among the towering Karris.

The reduced speed limit – implemented due to a huge number of fatal crashes over the years – not only made the scenery easier to look at, it also did wonders for the Macan’s energy consumption.

Pootling along between 70-80km/h for the best part of 100km meant that by the time we arrived in the centre of Dunsborough – perhaps the Porsche SUV capital of WA – the trip computer forecast we’d fall short of our end point by an agonising 2km.

What was that about Top Gear…

And so began the hypermiling – no cruise control or music, minimal climate control (it was 33 degrees), bulk drafting, carrying momentum through roundabouts and the gentlest of acceleration – but 45km later, just north of Busselton, it became clear we weren’t going to make it. Bloody 110km/h zones…

Climate control went back on, as did the ventilated seats, podcasts and cruise control.

Half an hour later we cruised into Bunbury, destined for the 150kW fast chargers at Queens Gardens we’d originally earmarked for our emergency 10-minute top-up…

Joining a Tesla Model Y at what would have to be one of the more serene public chargers in that neck of the woods, we enjoyed a quick leg stretch along the inlet before snagging a snack at Bunbury Centre Point before wondering back to our bug-covered chariot.

$17.29, 28.2kWh and 22 minutes later, we were back on road for a scenic run along the Leschenault Estuary before rejoining the Forrest Highway for the uneventful and unremarkable final leg back to our start/finish point.

As we reversed into the same charging bay we’d started from some 7.5 hours earlier, the Macan 4S had covered an indicated 559.5km with an average energy consumption of 22.3kWh/100km.

Given the 4S’ 100kWh (96kWh net) battery pack, that final consumption figure equated to an actual range of 430km – some 289km short of the 619km WLTP figure Porsche advertises.

‘Twould seem then Porsche is full of it, and we can already hear the EV naysayers banging their jerry cans in support, but there are a couple of key caveats and considerations to put into context.

Firstly, WLTP range claims are calculated from a standardised test that puts a vehicle on a treadmill in a laboratory and ‘driven’ through a fixed speed pattern that supposedly imitates city, suburban and highway driving.

It doesn’t factor in considerations like wind, ambient temperature, air pressure, altitude, road surface, gradients, traffic flow, driving style, how big of a lunch the driver and/or passengers had before setting off, load etc.

To clarify, our Macan was essentially unloaded, the tyres all well within OEM parameters, driven calmly and in its most frugal modes every step of the way, and the climate control was set as efficiently as possible.

The 4S is also hugely powerful, and WA’s summer easterly wind can be a menace at the best of times, but we’re not making excuses; it was nowhere near as frugal as we were anticipating and should’ve done better – imagine if we were four-up with luggage…

Perhaps the biggest contextual consideration however is this: yes, EVs take longer to refuel (charge) and don’t typically offer as much range as internal combustion or hybrid vehicles, but that doesn’t mean they’re useless outside the city.

Our run was an efficiency challenge replicating a tourist lap of WA’s South West and while the Macan technically failed, we still made it back and therefore proved EVs can absolutely work.

The trick is in how and when you charge.

If you really think about it, your car is doing nothing while you scoff down a meat pie, enjoy a good pub feed or explore the local shopping precinct; it may as well be charging, and that way you can avoid having to sit idle for an extended period on your holiday or road trip.

Sure, the location (and availability) of the charger could limit exactly which establishments or landmarks you visit during that timeframe, but that’s where some considerate scheduling comes in.

And don’t forget, charging infrastructure availability and reliability is improving all the time…

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