Porsche Macan EV 2024 Shotgun Review

When it lands in Australia towards the end of next year, the 2024 Porsche Macan EV is expected to be offered in three flavours – the base Macan, mid-spec Macan S and flagship Macan Turbo.

Perhaps a little confusingly, the existing combustion-powered Macan will continue to be offered for sale, catering for those who aren’t quite ready for life with an EV.

Ensuring the two distinct models don’t tread on each other’s toes, the new Macan EV is a larger car with a sportier coupe-style SUV silhouette.

You won’t miss its four-stage deployable rear spoiler that adds some showroom theatre.

And pricing? We wouldn’t be surprised if the most expensive 2024 Porsche Macan Turbo EV nudges a cool $200,000, which is a ridiculous amount of cash for a mid-sizer.

At that money, the electric Macan had better be good as it will cost around twice that of the Tesla Model Y Performance (from $92,020 plus ORCs). The incoming Polestar 3 Performance (from $141,900 plus ORCs) is also sure to be a strong contender.

The closest rival to the 2024 Porsche Macan EV will be the Audi Q6 e-tron, which is also due next year. The Q6 e-tron is the sister car to the Macan and shares both a platform and some powertrains with the fast Porsche EV.

Just how well equipped the 2024 Porsche Macan EV will be remains unknown as Porsche Australia has yet to release full pricing and specifications for its first-ever battery-powered SUV.

That said, the all-electric Porsche Taycan could prove a useful guide on how it will kit-out the Macan range.

We expect the most affordable version to sit on 20-inch alloy wheels, come with leather seats, 14-way adjustable electric front seats and LED Matrix headlights.

All versions will also come with a large 10.9-inch infotainment touch-screen and the full 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and multifunction steering wheel that both look lifted from the Taycan.

All models should also get active dampers, while the Macan S and Macan Turbo are expected to offer the car-maker’s latest twin-chamber air suspension.

The Macan S is also likely to sit on larger 21-inch alloy wheels.

Finally, it’s thought the flagship Macan Turbo will ride on 21s with the option of larger-still 22-inch rims. The Turbo S will feature advanced chassis tech that includes the rear-wheel steer, active anti-roll bars and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus.

There’s no claim yet for towing capacity but expect service intervals to match the Taycan’s generous two years/30,000km.

Like all Porsches in Australia, the latest Macan will only be covered by a short three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, plus an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty.

The 2024 Porsche Macan EV is expected to meet the requirements for a five-star Euro NCAP and ANCAP safety rating, under the independent safety regimes’ latest protocols.

When it arrives, the Macan will get a full suite of airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping aids, adaptive cruise control, multi-collision braking support, Porsche Hill Control, an electric parking brake and Porsche Stability Management (PSM) including anti-lock brakes plus ASR, ABD, EDC and Trailer Stability Management.

The 2024 Porsche Macan EV shares much of its new tech with the latest 2023 Porsche Cayenne and comes with thoughtful touches, such as a 15W wireless phone charger that is cooled.

There should also be plentiful fast-charging USB-C ports dotted around the cabin.

More impressive is the infotainment system that features embedded apps including Spotify and Apple CarPlay. Incorporating apps like Waze within the infotainment makes them more intuitive to use and allows them to be displayed both in the instrument cluster and the new augmented reality head-up display.

Better still, instead of dazzling you with all the new technology, Porsche has taken a different, more mature approach of making the tech within the cabin feel familiar, as evidenced by the traditional instrument cluster and an overall design that doesn’t look radically different from the current Macan.

There have been no changes made simply for the hell of it, and the company hopes it will appeal to both the tech-savvy and long-time Porsche owners.

The 2024 Porsche Macan EV will come with the brand’s latest battery-electric tech, however the German car-maker hasn’t revealed powertrain details for the base Macan and mid-level Macan S.

What we do know is that the fastest Macan Turbo S will get a dual-motor powertrain that will produce 450kW and 1000Nm of torque.

There are no performance claims yet for the flagship Macan EV, but we expect with that level of power a 0-100km/h sprint of around 4.0 seconds is realistic, with a limited top speed of 250km/h.

Those figures match what Tesla claims for its Model Y Performance.

A 100kWh lithium-ion battery will be fitted standard across the 2024 Porsche Macan EV range.

With a battery that big, the Porsche Macan Turbo will be able to cover more than 500km on a charge.

Thanks to the PPE platform’s 800-volt electrical architecture, Porsche says that a quick four-minute top-up will add as much as 100km.

Stay plugged in and a charge from 10-80 per cent will arrive in just 22 minutes, thanks to the battery being able to withstand a 270kW top-up.

Use the onboard 11kW AC charger and a full charge takes between 8-10 hours, although engineers are already working to introduce a faster 22kW charger soon after launch.

You’ll have to wait a little longer until we can tell you exactly how the 2024 Porsche Macan EV drives as we had to make do with a couple of passenger laps on a purpose-built off-road course and a tight and twisty circuit that was said to replicate corners from some of the world’s finest racetracks.

Ensuring it is well up to the task, the Macan Turbo S I climb into has air springs that can raise the body by 40mm to clear obstacles in the dirt, while also dropping by up to 30mm for flatter cornering.

Up front there’s also double-wishbone suspension and a multi-link arrangement at the rear.

Unusually, there isn’t a perfect 50:50 weight balance, with the Macan only managing a 48:52 split. That’s because, like a certain famous combustion-powered sports car, Porsche threw the rear motor over the rear axle. The reason was to make room for a rear-wheel steering system.

Finally, as well as a locking rear differential, there’s also active anti-roll bars.

It all seems like overkill until you remember this SUV, despite its modest size, will weigh in excess of two tonnes.

On track, with chassis engineer Sebastian behind the wheel, the Macan Turbo EV dances and is hyper-reactive to throttle inputs. Come in too hot and the nose pushes on; press the throttle and the Porsche SUV’s tail arcs wide. It’s both nimble in slow, tighter corners and stable in fast sweeps, and ever-so-playful when you want to have fun.

Braking is hugely impressive, with the engineers preferring little or no regen in its sportiest of settings (there’s Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and a traction-boosting Off-road mode).

To ramp up the enthusiasm for what’s going on underneath, engineers have developed a soundtrack for the Macan EV that blends a spacecraft entering warp speed and the rumble of a powerful flat-six. It works and isn’t too irritating but should be capable of being switched off.

Meanwhile, performance in a straight line feels alarming – in a good way. Even after sampling plenty of fast EVs, the way the Macan gathers pace in such an effortless manner is intoxicating.

It’s rare to see a pro driver having so much fun behind the wheel of an SUV – not least a battery-powered one – and all this exuberance soon pays its toll as our car’s Michelin tyres overheat and grip begins to fall off rapidly.

Also enhancing the experience is Porsche’s decision to sit both the driver and passenger low in the chassis in a bid to dial-up the connection with what’s going on.

The 2024 Porsche Macan EV should feel its worth in the cabin, although we have yet to see the finished item and haven’t had the opportunity to pore over its (still-secret) dimensions.

The rakish roofline will probably sacrifice some rear headroom, but its bigger proportions should mean there will be more shoulder-room and legroom in the second row.

Thanks to the new dedicated platform we expect there will also be a huge boot and the potential for a further frunk (or froot) to at least store the charging cables.

Throw in some extra practicality and fit and finish that will at least match the very best in its class and there will be little reason to deter you from spending lots of time in the Macan EV.

The 2024 Porsche Macan EV is shaping up to be as devastating to the opposition as the original car.

Of course, we actually need to drive it and see if designers can match the first-generation Macan’s prettiness.

But from our experience with its creators and some admittedly brief passenger seat time, it’s hard not to think Porsche is about to unleash the fastest, best-driving mid-size SUV yet.

Perhaps the only worry is whether these newfound capabilities will be blended with a staggeringly high price of entry.

2024 Porsche Macan Turbo EV at a glance:
Price: $180,000 est (plus on-road costs)
Available: Late 2024
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motors
Output: 450kW/1000Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 100kWh lithium-ion
Range: 500km est (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 19.0kWh/100km est (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested