Porsche reveals its Macan EV, client feedback 'overwhelmingly' positive, Porsche exec says
The Macan EV will come in two trim levels, feature dual-motor all-wheel drive, and start at $78,800.
Porsche (P911.DE) finally took the wraps off its next big bet on electric vehicles — the Macan EV.
Dubbed the “new Macan,” Porsche said it will initially come in two trims, the Macan 4 and the higher-performance Macan Turbo. The two versions will feature an all-wheel drive setup with two electric motors, producing 402 hp (Macan 4) and 640hp (Macan Turbo). A 100 kWh battery comes with both models. The EV range was not disclosed by Porsche, with EPA ratings forthcoming, but pre-production models were achieving around 300 miles on a full charge.
Porsche said the Macan EV will go on sale in the second half of the year, with Porsche taking orders starting today. Porsche listed the MSRP for the Macan 4 at $78,800, while the MSRP for the Macan Turbo is $105,300, plus a $1,650 delivery on both vehicles.
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The Macan EV will be sold alongside its gas-powered sibling, the Macan, which is Porsche’s volume seller. Porsche's other EV, the Taycan, doesn't have a gas-powered version.
“The Macan electric is the perfect setup for the future,” new Porsche Cars North America President & CEO Timo Resch said in a small roundtable discussion with reporters.
“The current [Macan] in the marketplace is still performing very well,” Resch said, but it turns out Porsche customers wanted an EV version too, despite EV sales momentum starting to wane slightly.
Resch said Porsche held customer clinics with long-time clientele, adding that they received “overwhelmingly” positive feedback.
That’s good news for the German luxury brand, as the Macan EV is a big model for Porsche. The regular Macan is easily the top seller in the Porsche portfolio here in the US, and any misstep would be devastating for a company that relies heavily on sales of its SUVs like the Macan and Cayenne. Nearly 62% of all Porsches sold in the US were SUVs last year.
One hiccup for the Macan EV’s rollout was bugs in its software, which Volkswagen subsidiary Cariad was working on for Porsche and Audi vehicles. Software issues led to the Macan EV’s delay of nearly half of a year and was one of the reasons for VW CEO Herbert Diess’s dismissal in 2022.
With the status of the Cariad’s software somewhat in limbo, Porsche is using Google’s Android Automotive OS to power infotainment functions, such as music, navigation, and Google Assistant. Android Automotive OS runs natively on the car and does not require a smartphone to use, though Apple CarPlay is compatible with this setup.
“We feel very positive and confident about all of these things coming together,” Resch said about the Macan EV’s Android-powered infotainment system, adding that the look and feel of the system was up to “the next level.” Resch would not give any details or updates on Cariad or the latest version of its software, other than the Cariad team was still working on it.
While the Macan EV won’t be hitting showrooms in the near term, Porsche’s sales momentum has continued thus far in 2024, despite the lack of any new models.
The start of the year was “very positive” Resch said, with high demand even in the first few days of January, typically a slow time for the industry.
And despite concerns over EV sales in the US, Porsche saw Taycan EV sales grow last year, and Resch and Porsche expect that strength to continue in 2024.
“I feel very positive for the momentum we see with Porsche EVs,” Resch said, adding that he expects demand for the Macan EV to initially outstrip supply.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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