Porsche – New kid in town. And everywhere else.
Portugal Resident
The new Macan is electric and promises to be the most versatile Porsche ever made. Good for the city, the motorway and for offroading. Looks good too.
I have written a lot on these pages about how much I do not believe electric cars are the answer to the sustainable mobility questions we have been asking for a decade and a half now. Too much politics are in play and constructors have not been given enough time to let their engineers develop the next generation of cars.
Still, we have to hand it to Porsche. They are fighting the good fight. Porsche built a synthetic fuel production facility in Chile last year, it is still continuously developing internal combustion engines for the perennial 911, and making governments happy with electric cars. Impressive.
The Taycan came out in 2019 and now we have the Macan EV. Weirdly (or not), the petrol Macan is not going out of production just yet. Although it will not be sold in the EU anymore (because it does not comply with cybersecurity regulations), it will most definitely still be sold stateside for the foreseeable future and in the UK until the end of 2025.
The Macan brought Porsche more than 850,000 buyers in 10 years on the market, exceeding all predictions. Replacing it with an electric model must have been a hard decision to make.
I went to the national press launch of the whole new electric Macan. First things first: this is one good looking car. I am not the world’s greatest SUV fan, but it’s very hard for a constructor these days to make a car look modern without resorting to some questionable design decisions. Modern is not just different; it means an interpretation of design that defines the present and introduces the future. Not many cars do that, and the new electric Macan definitely does. I have to applaud Michael Mauer and his team for what is a very distinctive Porsche.
The range arrives with two options: the Macan 4 and the Macan Turbo. Both have two electric motors, one at each axle. The 4 has identical synchronous motors on the front and rear and, with the overboost function activated, produces 408 horsepower (300 kW). The Turbo, meanwhile, ups the ante with bigger motors to 639 horsepower (470 kW). Torque figures are 650 Nm and a monstruous 1130 Nm, respectively.
The 4 reaches 100km/h in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h, whereas the Turbo does it in just 3.3 seconds, on to a maximum of 260 km/h, entering supercar territory in terms of outright performance.
All Macans come with a 95-kWh battery and 800-volt charging tech, meaning in a 270kW DC charger they will accept a 10 to 80% capacity in just 21 minutes. Maximum range is 613 km for the Macan 4 and 591 km for the Turbo.
I drove both versions on a very, very wet day, as the convoy headed from Lisbon to the Dunas resort at Comporta and then back. I also took both Macans to the middle of some amazing rice fields, witnessing their incredible ability off road in extremely tricky conditions.
However, what matters most is, obviously, two things: first, how it drives on the road. Answer: beautifully. The ride is superb, the steering has that Porsche feel and the brakes respond with assurance and natural reactions, even though they regenerate quite a lot of energy.
The Macan is quite a heavy car, but the engineers have done an incredible job in disguising that on the move. Let’s not pretend the new car is as exciting as, say, an old Macan GTS, but it is undeniable there are some very enjoyable moments to be had behind the wheel. Logically, the new Macan Turbo is on a different level, but the Macan 4 surely offers plenty of poke to satisfy most customers.
The second thing the Macan must excel at is the tech – and it absolutely does. I don’t believe the electric car buyer is searching for the ultimate driving experience, but he is definitely searching for the latest technology – even more so in a Porsche.
There is a 12.6-inch curved digital dashboard and 10.9-inch central display. And get this: the passenger can watch a movie on his own dedicated screen – a screen ‘invisible’ to the driver’s eyes. Need I say more?
Every imaginable safety, information and entertainment feature is available and, just like expected, the cabin is a magnificent place to be. Porsche does it like no other sports car brand.
Unlike the Taycan, a whole new model line at the time of its launch, the Macan is Porsche’s first attempt at replacing one of their existing cars with a pure electric successor. The new Macan is undoubtedly one of the best electric cars in the world and, objectively, a much better vehicle than any Macan with a combustion engine ever was. Will that be enough to replace it in the range and achieve the same level of success? Early signs are encouraging.
The German constructor will deliver over 400 units in Portugal until the end of the year, showcasing the outstanding demand the model has generated. The king is dead. Long live the king.
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The post Porsche – New kid in town. And everywhere else. appeared first on Portugal Resident written by Guilherme Marques
