ANTIBES – Electric Porsche second act. After the Taycan launched in 2019, the Zuffenhausen company plugged in the Macan. The new generation of the German compact SUV, which can already be ordered with a price list starting from 88,187 euros, is in fact available only in the zero-emission “4” and “Turbo” variants. A radical and in some respects also courageous change from a sales point of view for a flagship model of the brand which from 2014 to today has won over 800,000 customers worldwide. However, the die has been cast and the Macan, as will soon happen for two other cars from the company, namely the 718 Cayman and the 718 Boxster, has taken the “green” path which will lead the manufacturer to make peace with the environment. Even if Porsche itself, at least for now, has firmly reiterated that it does not want to give up combustion engines on some cars: first of all the timeless 911 for which the turning point has not even been hypothesized.
But what is it like and above all how does the electric Macan go? We went to test it for the first time on the French roads of the Côte d’Azur and it must be said that there was no shortage of surprises.
In design, compared to the previous generation, the Macan now appears even more dynamic, rewarded in appearance by a line that marks the coupé style of the bodywork in its 4.78 meters of length with a Cd of 0.25.
And underneath the dress, the PPE platform, specially developed within the Volkswagen Group by Porsche together with Audi, allows the car to perform above the norm that you wouldn’t expect.
The extremely low center of gravity, thanks to the 100 kWh battery placed in the underbody which recharges quickly from 10 to 80% in approximately 21 minutes and which guarantees a declared range (WLTP) of up to 591 and 613 km depending on the version , allows the Macan to remain glued to the road in all driving conditions, always guaranteeing a smooth and engaging ride. Being able to rely to do so on a mechanical architecture that has among its various pluses a steering rear axle, active pneumatic suspensions and Torque Vectoring Plus. In addition to the Porsche Traction Management system which manages the all-wheel drive provided by two independent motors arranged one on each axle . These develop a total power of 300 kW (408 HP) on the “4” variant. While the “Turbo” can discharge 470 kW (639 HP) to the ground, useful for accelerating it from 0 to 100 in just 3.3 seconds and reaching a maximum speed of 260 km/h, accompanying the pace with a pleasant sound similar to that of a petrol car.
All this happens while sitting inside a passenger compartment where the electrification of the model has made it possible to increase the space, with a trunk of up to 1,348 liters of capacity to which is added the “frunk” under the 84 liter bonnet, and inside which there is a latest generation operating interface which includes up to three screens, one for the front passenger, together with the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system which among many others has a voice assistant ready to suggest routes and any charging stops for achieve a certain goal in the best possible way. We asked him to “take” us for a tour, stopping off in various places on our route starting from Nice, including the port of Antibes. There we discovered that the same battery powertrain as the Macan was used to push the 850 Fantom motorboat produced by the Austrian shipyard Frauscher Bootswerft through the waves. In practice, a sort of aquatic twin of the Macan which makes Porsche’s new electric bet even more intriguing.
