2025 Porsche Macan 4S Electric First Test: A Hot Hatchback for Grown-Ups

In 1 Corinthians 13:11, Paul says, “When I became a man, I put away childish things”—but if we all followed his lead, Lego would have gone bankrupt years ago. The Macan 4S Electric, the one-from-the-top model of Porsche’s new battery-powered SUV, reminds us a lot of the hot hatchbacks we had (or wanted) in our youth—and might still be driving had we not been mercilessly crushed beneath the demands of adulthood. So is the Macan 4S Electric the fountain of youth, or is it merely the vehicular equivalent of a toupee or a trophy wife, an attempt to render vivid that which cannot be revived? Time to test the 4S and find out.

The Spark We Seek

Let’s start with a quick recap of the Macan Electric, a new-for-2025 creation that shares little but its name and shape with the gasoline-powered Macan. (We outlined the differences in detail in our 2025 Porsche Macan Electric first drive.) The lineup consists of the 355-hp base model, 402-hp Macan 4, 509-hp Macan 4S, and 630-hp turbocharger-free Macan Turbo. The base model has a single motor that drives the rear axle, while all the others are dual-motor, all-wheel-drive machines.

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We recently tested the Macan 4 Electric and found that while it was as quick and capable as we expected, it didn’t quite thrill us the way we had hoped. Granted, the Macan in both gas and electric forms is a bill payer, a vehicle that generates reliable profits so we can have nifty low-volume models like the 911, Cayman and Boxster. But Porsche is a brand that has its driving experience so precisely dialed in that it could practically sell it in bottles, and we were hoping for a little bit more of that Porsche sparkle—that same something we found in the cars of our youth. The Macan 4 didn’t quite deliver, but would the 4S?

Quicker Than Expected, As Expected

First, we headed out to the test track to get some hard numbers. Porsche’s 0–60 estimates tend to be conservative, and we expected the 4S to better the company’s claim of 3.9 seconds. It certainly did. With the drive mode dial set to the Sport Plus, stability control disabled, and launch mode engaged, the Macan kicked hard off the line and passed 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, 100 mph in 8.6 seconds, and the quarter-mile mark in 11.9 seconds at 117.4 mph. That makes the 4S as quick as the gasoline-powered Macan GTS to 60 (and 0.3 second quicker in the quarter mile) and only 0.1 second behind than the most fleet-of-tire Tesla Model Y we’ve tested, the now-discontinued Performance version.

We were prepared to cut the Macan a break in braking, because at 5,252 pounds, it’s about 800 pounds heavier than the gas Macan GTS. Shame on us for second-guessing Porsche, because the electric 4S arrested its 60 mph pace in 106 feet, matching the GTS. The brakes bit strongly from the get-go, but they seemed to lose a bit of their grip as the electric SUV neared a standstill. Speaking of braking, it’s worth noting that Porsche EVs don’t have a one-pedal driving mode, instead offering very limited regenerative braking until the driver steps on the brake pedal. The idea is to make the EVs feel just like gas cars, but most of us at MT think Porsche is taking the wrong approach and should offer a one-pedal mode that can be switched off.

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Macan Can Dish It Out, but Can It Take It? (Electricity, That Is)

All electric Macans have the same-size battery. Range varies with power output, and the 4S and Turbo share the shortest EPA-rated range of 288 miles. In our Road-Trip Range test, in which we drive a steady 70 mph from 100 percent down to 5 percent, we managed 261 miles. This is a good-not-great result, as was our fast-charging time. It took 24 minutes to juice the battery from 5 percent to 80 percent and a further 43 minutes to get to 100 percent. Nothing to be ashamed of here, but over 300 miles and under 20 minutes would put the Macan 4S Electric’s range and charging performance in the same league as its acceleration and braking.

Our handling tests showed the 4S ratcheting up a notch from the Macan 4, with 0.93 g of grip on the skidpad (versus 0.88 g for the 4) and a figure-eight lap time of 24.4 seconds at 0.82 g (versus 25.1 at 0.77). That’s a very good number for an SUV, tying some (literal) heavyweights like the Audi S8 and the off-road Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, while just beating the Acura Integra Type S and BMW Z4 M40i. As in the braking tests, we marveled at how well the Macan 4S Electric masked its weight through the Eight. Still, like with the Macan 4, we didn’t find it quite as exciting as we expected.

Driving a Fighter Jet

There’s a reason we do both objective and subjective testing, and out on our favorite curvy roads, the 4S came alive—or at least as alive as it was going to get. Here again the Macan Electric belied its weight; pushing as hard as we dared on some tight, challenging roads, we could easily imagine we were driving a 3,200-pound Volkswagen GTI, at least until we nailed the throttle—because no classic sport compact can match the insane immediacy of the Macan 4S Electric’s powertrain. If you step on that throttle, bud, you’d better damn well be ready.

Hustling the 4S is, we imagine, a bit like flying a supersonic fighter jet, in that everything happens so damn quickly. That, in turn, reminded us why military jet pilots are so young—they need the speed and reflexes of youth to keep up. The 4S’ rear end steps out in an instant, especially if you apply power early and hard out of the turns, but by the time you realize what’s happening, the stability management system has already brought the rear wheels into line. Driving the 4S at Porsche speeds requires your brain to operate at Porsche speeds. It’s not like our old hot hatchbacks, which we could toss into turns with abandon and have time to laugh as we corrected. Yes, the Macan 4S Electric is quick and agile and super responsive—and comfortable and refined, which is a pretty nifty trick—but it sometimes it feels as if it’s just going through the motions without really enjoying them.

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Air Suspension to the Rescue

Of course, the Macan is marketed toward buyers who aren’t looking for a GTI substitute, so we spent a fair amount of time driving in serious-adult modes. By far the 4S’ best attribute, considering its massively good handling, is that there is no compromise in ride. It’s faultlessly composed and comfortable, and we can’t see a single non-enthusiast ever glaring at their spouse and saying, “Why did we have to buy this silly car?” Porsche was wise to use an air suspension for the Macan Electric. We liked the seats and the screens, and we thought the integration of the ambient lighting with the driver assistance systems was brilliant. The light-pipes on the doors pulse yellow to tell you the next lane over is occupied and flash an urgent red if you’re about to open your door in the path of oncoming traffic, then return to their selected color to become part of the décor. Brilliant.

But as in the Macan 4, we saw more cheap-looking plastic bits than we would have liked. The trim is nowhere near as nice as, say, a Taycan’s. Of course, the Taycan is a $100,000 car, but … oh, wait, so is the 4S we were driving! Almost, that is—base price for the 4S is just under $87K, and our test vehicle stickered for $98,225. Call us snobs if you like, but nobody paying this much for a car should have to look at this much plastic. The gas Macan delivers pretty good value for a Porsche, with starting prices just under $65,000, but the electrics go for about $12,000 higher. True, you might well manage to save that in fuel and service costs over three years, but we still feel that if the Macan Electric is going to be priced higher, it should be appointed to a higher standard.

They Say You Can’t Go Back. Can You?

Let’s get back to our thesis: Is the Macan 4S Electric the family-friendly hot hatch we crave? It’s definitely more exciting than the Macan 4, and we love the fact that it can be so sporty and agile with no compromise in comfort. Still, as quick and skilled as it was, we found the driving experience to be a bit clinical. It’s still got those old-time hot hatch moves, seasoned and improved by age and experience, but the heart isn’t all there. It’s as if our GTI now has a steady job, a family, and a mortgage. You can take it out on a date night, but it’s still going to be preoccupied with how it’ll afford college tuition for both kids, especially with Susie eyeing Columbia. The Macan 4S Electric is an amazing accomplishment, but we wish it would let its hair down just a little more. Maybe we’re not ready to put those childish things away after all.

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