2024 Porsche Macan Electric First Drive: Same, Same but Different

“Does the Macan Electric share any parts with the gas Macan?” Sebastian Staiger, manager for Porsche’s compact SUV model line, thinks about the question for a moment, then speaks with a colleague in German to find the right English words before answering. The tiny red LEDs atop the door panels that flash when the car is locked might be the same part. Might be.

After tearing around Southern France’s mountain playgrounds in the 2024 Porsche Macan Electric, it’s hard to reconcile that the combustion and electric Macans don’t share any mechanical DNA. Porsche has effectively built an entirely new vehicle around a fundamentally different powertrain technology while delivering what amounts to the same exact same dynamic driving experience. Despite weighing roughly 1,100 pounds more, the Macan EV steers, turns, and rides with the same sure-footed precision as the gasser.

More Tech = More Money

When it arrives in the U.S. this fall, the Macan Electric will be sold alongside the current gas version, allowing buyers to conduct a calculus based on their own personal values, financial position, and perception of what a Porsche is or isn’t. Buying the latest and greatest will, of course, carry a steep premium, in part to protect Porsche’s famously thick profit margins. The 402-hp Macan 4 Electric starts about $15,000 above the base gas-powered Macan at $80,450. The 630-hp Macan Turbo Electric opens at $106,950. Per usual, you’ll want to budget a minimum of $20,000 for add-ons with either model.

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Porsche has deployed its full arsenal of chassis tech to the Volkswagen Group’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture. Thanks to standard air springs and the beefy 95.0-kWh battery pack under the floor, the Macan EV counters its extra heft with a center of gravity that can hunker as much as 5.5 inches lower than the gas Macan. Optional four-wheel steering keeps the turning circle tight and agility high even as the body and wheelbase stretch 3.9 and 3.4 inches longer, respectively. In the Turbo, all 228 extra horsepower are applied at the rear axle through an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. The result is more neutral handling under acceleration that makes the top EV model more playful than even the hottest gas versions.

On Balance

Climbing into the Alps, the Macan Electric’s accurate steering and purposeful body movements revealed the rhythm of an unfamiliar road in the first two turns. Even with less steering feel and feedback than in the typical new Porsche, there’s a level of control and confidence that you don’t find behind the wheel of other 5,300-pound SUVs.

The sharp handling makes the Macan 4 feel punchy when rolling between 30 and 60 mph on a mountain road. In city traffic, though, you get the sense that Porsche is holding back the full 479 lb-ft of torque on initial tip-in. Rather than jumping off the line, the Macan 4’s urgency builds with some speed behind it. The advertised 4.9-second 0-60-mph time is leisurely for a Porsche and a performance EV, even if it’s more than a second quicker than the 261-hp entry gas Macan. Give it time and Porsche will inevitably fill the 1.8-second, $26,500 gap between the 4 Electric and Turbo Electric with more models (GTS Electric, anyone?).

At the other end of the spectrum, the Macan’s composure means the Turbo’s 833 lb-ft never overwhelms the chassis, even during the 0-60 blitz that takes just 3.1 seconds by Porsche’s watch. As long as the road isn’t straight and wide open, the 4 and Turbo models drive almost identically despite the palpable power difference. This is Porsche doing its typical thing. A 911 always feels balanced between muscle and agility, whether it’s a 379-hp Carrera or a 640-hp Turbo S. The same is true of the Macan Electric.

Visual Weight

A unique body gives the EV the look of a Macan that’s been stung by a hornet—unmistakably recognizable but slightly swollen. It’s a rare car from the Porsche studio that looks as heavy and bulky as the Macan Electric does. Punching vents into the Turbo’s rear fascia and separating the headlights and running lights into distinct elements also strikes us as out of character. Overall, the aesthetic connection to the 911 is more tenuous than with any other contemporary model. Some flat-six owners probably see this as a feature rather than a flaw.

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Inside, the capacitive-touch climate controls, crisp screens, supportive seats, and immaculate materials will all but flatten the learning curve for anyone making the switch from a gas to electric Macan. The infotainment system follows the theme of making new parts—or in this case code—look familiar. This is Porsche’s first use of the Android Automotive OS, although it looks just like the QNX-based system used in the rest of the lineup. The biggest outward change is that there’s now a built-in app store for installing programs like PlugShare if you want to go native rather than using Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. With a navigation destination set, the optional head-up display can throw giant arrows on the windshield, so you never have an excuse for missing your turn again. A third screen allows the front passenger to play games or stream videos.

Not Your Typical EV

In mimicking the gas Macan so closely, Porsche has missed out on some of the advantages inherent in EVs. Aside from the addition of a 2.9-cubic-foot frunk, its larger dimensions haven’t perceptibly improved the packaging. Like the present Macan, it’s a small SUV that feels sports-car tight in the front and back seats. While the center console offers newfound storage space under the climate controls, reaching it or plugging into the USB-C or 12-volt ports requires a contortionist’s range of motion. Weirdly, there’s also a low hump in the center of the rear floor, a smaller version of the tunnel that houses the gas Macan’s driveshaft. Staiger says that the designers put it there and that it serves no functional purpose in the EV.

Even more bizarre is that Porsche’s crusade against one-pedal driving continues. Lifting off the accelerator in the higher of the two regenerative braking settings won’t slow the car as quickly as doing the same thing in a gas vehicle. The engineers argue that it’s more efficient to let an EV coast rather than turn the car’s kinetic energy into electricity. That might be true with a German engineer driving, but what Porsche buyer is patient enough to start slowing down a half mile before a red light? Fixating on theoretical efficiency over the driving experience just doesn’t make sense in a P-car, even an electric SUV.

We can understand why Porsche would want drivers to use both pedals on a great driving road. The Macan’s perfectly weighted brake offers better feedback and modulation than the best one-pedal systems. But using the accelerator to slow an EV keeps things interesting in city traffic, and since it’s just a matter of software to toggle one-pedal driving on and off, Macan buyers should have that choice, like they do in pretty much every other electric car.

It's Quick When It’s Parked

While Porsche hasn’t shared the official range numbers, we expect the battery pack to be good for somewhere between 250 and 300 miles of range in both models. Fast-charging power peaks at the same impressive 270 kilowatts as the Taycan, but the Macan can sustain higher power throughout the session, which means the battery charges from 10 to 80 percent in a claimed 21 minutes, slightly quicker than the Taycan’s 7 percent smaller pack. Charging ports on both rear fenders allow you to plug in at home without dragging a cord to the opposite side of the car. That’s a nice idea, but it would be even more useful to have DC ports on both sides of the car since fast-charging so often requires awkward parking gymnastics.

Same But Different

In the early days of the modern EV era, established automakers tried to turn gas vehicles into electric cars with limited success. With the Macan Electric, Porsche has done almost the exact opposite with the opposite results. The company has gone to the effort of building an EV from the ground up and then making it drive like its best-selling gas model while stopping short of installing a combustion engine. That may sound backwards, but anyone who has driven a Macan can appreciate what that means. While the Macan Electric might not share any major parts with the gas Macan, you can absolutely tell that they were created by the same company and the same engineers.