By Dan Neil
When driving around the French Riviera, the readiness is all.
I traveled to Cap d'Antibes last week to sample Porsche's 2024 Macan EV, the all-electric successor to the first-generation Macan compact SUV. The route took us into the Alpes-Maritimes, where the roads get narrow and the traffic thins with the air. Here you will find the fateful cliffs from which princesses plunge; here the hairpins and switchbacks of a thousand spy-novel chase scenes, still oily with pursuit countermeasures.
The Macan Turbo and I were crushing it, fantasy-wise. I even have my own theme music.
But the real test happens when you mix it up with the locals in rush-hour roundabouts. If an opening appears in the gyre of cars, no matter how narrow, you better take it, or Madame Blu de Bouffant in the Citroën behind you will start blowing her horn and shaking her little fist. Crepes! Lady. I'm going already.
These are the milliseconds that define the electric Macan's advantage. In the legacy Macan, appeals for acceleration must first go to committee -- the powertrain control codeware -- which, after consulting with the telemetry, signals to the engine, transmission and differentials. The engine must spool its turbos and rotating assemblies to a high-revving dudgeon; the clutches must load up and the transmission's solenoids must click down.
This is much too much latency for Mme Blu's liking. In the similarly situated electric Macan, now means now: Throttle inputs are instantly rewarded with a seamless, surging, proportionally perfect quickening, a giddy exchange of inertia for momentum happening at the speed of telepathy.
The most potent of the gas-powered Macan variants -- the 434-hp GTS -- claims an official 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds, using Launch Control. That's a pretty good jolt. The new Macan Turbo (630 hp and 833 lb-ft, with Launch Control engaged) does the deed in a mere 3.1 seconds; but it doesn't need anything like it to leave Madame in slack-jawed amazement. À tout à l'heure, Toots. If anybody asks, I'm German.
Just to bring everybody up to speed, it's pronounced Ma--KHAN. It rhymes with pecan, assuming you say pecan right. Also, to clarify, the Macan Turbo EV does not actually have a turbocharger; Porsche uses the Turbo name to denote high performance, which confuses absolutely no one, ever.
Introduced in 2014, Porsche's posh compact SUV was cast in the role of a more adorable, more affordable alternative to Porsche's Cayenne. Since then Macan has racked up more than 850,000 sales worldwide. The piston-powered Macan has the highest percentage of female buyers (40%) in the U.S. of any Porsche model. All of which is to note the business stakes couldn't be higher.
This is the first Porsche to be built on the Premium Platform Electric $(PPE.AU)$ developed with Volkswagen Group sibling Audi. As such it represents what might be thought of as the Big Fix, a generational upgrade addressing the many painful shortcomings of VW Group's freshman class of EVs.
For example: charging speed. Both Macan 4 and Macan Turbo use a 95 kWh (net) prismatic-cell battery with 800V charging, with a maximum fast-charging rate of 270 kW. In ideal conditions, the battery can recharge from 10% to 80% of capacity in 21 minutes, according to Porsche. At 400V DC direct chargers, the 80% threshold can be reached in as little as 33 minutes, in ideal conditions.
Note: Porsche will adopt the North American Charging Standard, compatible with Tesla's supercharger network, for 2025. For Macans in the pipeline, Porsche has considered creating an adapter for the purpose.
Range: The aerodynamically slinky Macan Turbo (0.25 Cd) earns an estimated range of 322-367 miles on the WLTP test. The Macan 4 (0.26 Cd) scores an estimated 320-381 miles WLTP. These nominals represent about a 30% improvement over the first-generation Porsche Taycan EV, circa 2019.
Repairability: At the press event in Cap d'Antibes, Porsche had prepared a display exposing the Macan's chassis and electromotive underpinnings. I observed that the Macan's floor-mounted battery pack, in a rectangular perimeter frame, doesn't carry much of the car's structural loads. This arrangement probably nets out a bit heavier than one with a load-bearing battery pack. On the other hand, Porsche says service technicians will be able to access and replace individual modules or even whole packs in 45 minutes. That's a vast improvement over the previous never.
Porsche wants us to compare, so let's. From the driver's seat, the EV is quicker, stronger, sweeter, more refined and better balanced, on any road and in any mode, on the throttle or on the binders. The braking systems marry the stopping power of huge friction brakes with hearty regenerative braking (up to 240 kW). If the Macan is the least performance-oriented model in Porsche's lineup, somebody forgot to tell the Turbo I was driving. Mon Dieu.
That said, it's clear Macan's chassis engineers had a lively time coping with the battery's mass. The double-wishbone suspension is a kinematic cat's cradle. There appear to be additional adjustable links in there, just for funsies. Among the systems helping the Macan Turbo obey my will: rear-wheel steering (a new option); adaptive air suspension; and electronically controlled rear-axle differential lock.
Both variants use a 175 kW permanent-magnet motor in front. In the rear, the 4 deploys a 280 kW motor. The Turbo's rear gear winds up an outrageous and unnecessary 470 kW. Porsche's EV tech takes a big step forward with the use of high-power silicone-carbide chips in the rear inverter, which has almost twice the current-carrying capacity of the front inverter.
Still, for all the turn-the-page rhetoric, returning Macan buyers will find the new Macan surprisingly familiar, outside and in. The cabin is a little larger, the cargo capacity (including a frunk) more generous, the seating position a little lower. The previous Macan was a bratty, firmly sprung and feisty little ute; its EV-powered successor, the same, only more so.
The more things change, n'est-ce pas?
2024 Porsche Macan Turbo
Base price: $106,950, with delivery
Propulsion: Battery-electric AWD: independent front- and rear-axle mounted permanent-magnet synchronous motors; 95 kWh (net) prismatic lithium-ion battery pack; 800V charging.
Max power/torque: 630 hp/833 lb-ft
Length/wheelbase/width/height: 188.35/113.9/76.3/ 63.8 inches
0-60 mph: 3.1 seconds (with Launch Control)
Curb weight: 5,393 pounds; towing capacity 4,409 pounds
Estimated range: 367 miles
Charging: 270 kW DC direct, 10% to 80% capacity in 21 mins
Cargo capacity: 2.9/15.8 cubic feet (front/rear)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 25, 2024 17:03 ET (21:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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