Porsche Macan Electric review: one of the best EVs on the market

Quick verdict

The new electric Macan feels like a Porsche in all the right ways. Cutting-edge technology, a carefully-crafted cabin and sharp, approachable driving dynamics all add up to make this one of the best all-round electric cars on the market. Yes, the Turbo is faster, but the base Macan 4 is our pick of the range. Just be careful with the options list; you can make this a six-figure SUV without too much trouble.

Porsche Macan Electric: price, specs and rivals

There’s a special set of ingredients that makes a Porsche, a Porsche. It’s an ever-evolving recipe, but the basic principles remain; a Stuttgart-spawned sports car or SUV must be the best-driving vehicle of its type.

That’s a trait that also extends to the electric era. The Porsche Taycan is widely regarded as one of the sharpest saloon cars on sale – distilling much of what makes the 911 so successful, into a zero-emission executive express. You can even have one with a big boot, or jacked-up, pseudo-SUV styling.

So after easing itself in, Porsche now turns its attention to the popular Porsche Macan. The next-generation BMW X3 rival is EV only, launching with a choice of dual-motor powertrains – both mated to a hefty 100kWh (95kWh usable) battery for up to 380 miles of range. 

The Porsche shares its Premium Platform Electric (plus much of the rest of what you’ll find under skin) with the Audi Q6 e-tron. Other rivals include cars like the BMW iX3, Mercedes EQC and Genesis Electrified GV70.

The base Macan 4 will take the lion’s share of sales, but a Turbo model (without an actual turbo, of course) is also available at launch. Prices start from just under £70,000, but as with any Porsche, the options list is extensive; our Macan 4 test car came in at more than £95k, which is roughly the same price as a base Macan Turbo.

There are two standard paint colours: black and white, though up to 59 ‘special’ shades are available at extra cost. As standard, the Porsche Macan Electric comes with 20-inch wheels, with 21 and 22-inch rims on the options list – the most expensive of which will set you back more than £6,000.

The interior is black as standard, though ‘Chalk’ accents are a relatively affordable £176. Leather starts from around £1,200, while ‘Extended’ leather is more than double that, but brings softer materials throughout, including the lower parts of the doors and dash.

Elsewhere, every car comes with eight-way electrically-adjustable heated seats, two-zone climate control, twin screens with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus LED lights and those aforementioned 20-inch wheels.

Both cars have a dual-motor layout, though a single-motor version is expected to join the range later, alongside S and GTS models. No Macan Turbo S is planned at this stage.

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What’s particularly pleasing about this new Porsche Macan Electric is the control weights. No, the steering doesn’t have the granularity of an old hydraulic rack, but it’s precise and consistent, and the grip on offer means the car will turn on a dime. The biggest barrier to the Macan’s agility is its weight, though even that is pretty well contained thanks to a centre of gravity that is 140mm lower than the old car’s.

The accuracy of those controls extends to the pedals, too. Acceleration is strong but progressive, making it easy to modulate and feed in power out of the bends. The brakes are just as smooth; there are no adjustable brake energy regen settings, but the transition between recuperation and the conventional discs and pads is absolutely seamless.

If the Macan Electric struggles in any one area, it’s ride comfort – specifically at lower speeds and around town. There are precious few ways to circumnavigate an electric SUV’s essential raised ride height and hefty kerbweight, other than to fit slightly stiffer suspension. This firm setup is something that can cause the Macan to fidget over rough surfaces and clunk through deeper potholes.

Both the cars we tried were on adaptive air suspension (a £2,064 option on the 4), but the smaller 20-inch wheels offered a noticeable improvement – especially in an urban environment. Both versions (4 and Turbo) felt more pliant and tied down on the motorway or over faster, more undulating roads.

In terms of straightline speed, we suspect only a handful of owners will feel the need to step up from the base Macan 4 to the flagship Turbo. Even the entry-level car has 402bhp (on overboost, with Launch Control) and can do 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds. The standard configuration still provides 382bhp though; it doesn’t feel as urgent or snappy as a Tesla Model Y Performance, but the softened throttle serves up a more comfortable experience in day-to-day driving. If this isn’t enough, the 630bhp Macan Turbo will do 0-62mph in just 3.3 seconds.

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Porsche claims up to 381 miles on a charge using the WLTP test procedure. Our fast and demanding test route showed overall efficiency of around 2.9m/kWh, which translates to a real-world range of around 275 miles. However, we reckon a gentler right foot would easily see that figure surpass the magic 300-mile mark.

But the good news is that if you do drain that battery quicker than you might like, the Porsche’s 800-volt architecture allows for ultra rapid 270kW DC top ups – good for a 10-80 per cent fill in just 21 minutes. 

The Macan Electric gets two 11kW AC charge ports (one on either side) to make home or on-street charging more convenient. The big battery means a standard charge via a conventional 7kW home wallbox is likely to take the best part of 13 hours.

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The idea of making a Porsche feel like a Porsche extends to more than just the driving experience. You must feel unequivocally cocooned in the cabin, surrounded by intuitive, tactile buttons and switches, and responsive, crystal-clear screens. 

Thankfully, the Macan Electric ticks almost all of these boxes. There is plenty of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel, and the displays are typically easy to read. Some of the climate functions are touch-operated, but things like the temperature and fan speed use physical switches. The cooled wireless charging pad is among the fastest and most effective we’ve used.

Quality, on the whole, is very good and befitting the car’s near-£70k base price. There are some cheaper plastics if you go searching in the lower reaches of the cabin, but you’ll rarely notice any evidence of cost cutting.

Beware, however, because – like on all Porsches since the dawn of time - the options list is long. Even our Macan 4 test car came with more than £25,000 of options, so it’s difficult for us to truly assess what a base-spec car might look like. We suspect the Extended Leather package (£2,805) could cover a multitude of sins. Question is, how often do you touch the door bins or the lower dash? This may or may not matter to you but tread carefully if you’re working to a budget.

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment 

The Android Automotive-based infotainment is quick to respond and you can even option a passenger-side display if you wish. We wouldn’t bother – it seems a frivolity, and a cost that could be better spent elsewhere. After all, it’s hardly a stretch for your nearest and dearest to use the central screen instead.

Speaking of which, that main infotainment system is typical Porsche. The fonts are familiar, and the functionality is on point. Most of the menus are fairly logically laid-out, and the processor behind it all seems pretty slick.

Personally, we’d avoid the augmented-reality head-up display (an extra £1,694). Porsche claims it can, in effect, project up to 10 metres in front of the car – equivalent to an 87-inch screen directly in front of your eyes – but at times it’s a little distracting.

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Despite adding 86mm to the wheelbase, Porsche hasn’t transformed the first electric Macan into a Range Rover rival. Space in the back is just about sufficient for taller adults, though specifying a panoramic roof eats into headroom. The hard-backed Sports Seats (standard on the Turbo) limit legroom, too.

Depending on the angle you view it from, this latest Porsche Macan can look more like a jacked-up hatchback than a full-blown SUV. The sloping roof helps with aerodynamics – Porsche claims the lower drag coefficient versus the old Macan is equivalent to 85km (53 miles) of range – and while it doesn’t impede proceedings in the cabin, it’ll limit how much you can put in the boot versus, say, a BMW iX3. 

Still, the 540-litre boot space (480 litres for the Turbo) is a good size, and the seats fold 40:20:40 to boost versatility. There’s an 84-litre space under the bonnet for the charging cables, too.

You get towing preparation as standard, though you’ll pay extra for the tow bar itself. Have one fitted and the Macan is rated to tow up to 2,000kg.

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The latest Porsche Macan Electric hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP as yet, but the maker has a strong reputation for safety – the previous Macan, as well as the Taycan EV both scored the full five stars when they were assessed.

All cars come with things like automatic emergency braking, plus traffic-sign recognition and lane-keep assist. Thankfully we didn’t find these systems too intrusive, even when driving quickly on winding roads or on longer motorway stretches; it’s always a positive if you don’t find yourself reaching for the off switch five minutes into the drive.

Obviously, the Macan being so new it’s impossible to accurately assess any potential reliability woes. That said, Porsche customers are a satisfied bunch – the brand regularly posts top-three finishes in our annual Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. 

Should you buy a Porsche Macan?

The new Porsche Macan distils much of what owners love about their Cayman and 911 sports cars into an electric-SUV package. It’s an incredibly competent all-rounder that’s fun to drive, loaded with hi-tech kit, and even reasonably family friendly – so long as you don’t have three kids and a large dog.

Questions remain about ride comfort, and we’ll need to spend longer in the hot seat to determine the kind of range you can expect in normal driving. But on initial evidence, this is an EV directed at the driver, but one that can satisfy its passengers in the process.