Porsche on Thursday unveiled the Macan EV, a long-delayed project that will test whether consumers still have the drive to opt for an electric vehicle that costs more than $78,000.
The revelation comes at a crucial time for Porsche and many other automakers. Demand for expensive electric vehicles has waned in recent months, prompting some automakers to return to hybrid vehicles and curb expensive battery factory plans.
The Porsche Macan EV provides the ideal testbed to gauge consumer confidence, which will be reflected when the company begins delivering the all-electric compact SUV in the second half of the year. He The Porsche Macan EV will not only compete with the best-selling petrol Macan, but it will also be more expensive.
The Porsche Macan EV will be offered in two variants: Macan 4 and Macan Turbo (yes, Porsche continues to maintain its traditional badge despite being an EV). The Macan 4 starts at $78,800 and the Macan Turbo starts at $105,300, prices that do not include the delivery, processing and handling fee for the 1,650. Meanwhile, the petrol Macan starts at $62,550 and tops out at $88,450 for its most expensive version.
Porsche North America president and CEO Timo Resch sees no conflict and instead sees an opportunity to offer customers more options.
“Ultimately, it's a customer's choice,” Resch told TechCrunch in a recent interview, adding that from the beginning of the process Porsche customers think about their driving style and habits. “For what I want to do, is it more on the internal combustion engine side or the electric battery side? And then this largely decides which direction to take. I think this is the way to go and for Porsche there could be no other direction because we always try to make the customer, his decision and his desire for our product our top priority.”
Nuts and bolts
Porsche has released specifications about the future Macan EV since 2019, when the company first announced it would convert its best-selling vehicle in the U.S. into an electric vehicle. It even allowed TechCrunch and other outlets to handle the prototype last year. With the official launch, Porsche released more details about the two Macan EVs, except for the battery range. The company said EPA scope figures will be available closer to the delivery date.
The Macan EV is Porsche's second all-electric vehicle and the first to use the newly developed Premium Electric (or PPE) platform, which was developed in collaboration with Audi AG and is designed for the manufacturer to easily adjust the wheelbase, track width and ground clearance. .
The automaker sells two versions of the all-electric SUV, both equipped with electric motors on the front and rear axles, which draw power from a 100-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery located in the vehicle's underbody.
First up is the Macan 4, an all-electric SUV equipped with a powertrain that can produce up to 402 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. The Macan 4 can accelerate from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds and a top track speed of 136 mph.
As the name suggests, the most powerful Macan Turbo can generate up to 630 hp and a maximum of 833 lb-ft of torque. That also translates to faster acceleration; The Macan Turbo can travel from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds and a top track speed of 161 mph.
It's worth noting that the Porsche Macan EV is the first Macan to feature rear-axle steering. As we noted in our test drive last year, the rear wheels turn up to five degrees opposite the front wheels when driving at speeds of about 50 miles per hour or less, allowing the driver to feel the car while cornering. .
android software
Another notable feature is the software, meaning it is not the 1.2 software platform that has been in development (and repeatedly delayed) by the VW Group's Cariad software unit. The 1.2 software was being created specifically for the Porsche Macan EV and Audi Q6 E-Tron and was originally scheduled for completion in 2022. Cariad pushed the release date back to late 2023 to be ready for the 2024 VW models when Peter Bosch takes over. the control. In May. Now, it looks like Software Platform 1.2 won't be in cars until at least 2025.
That left Porsche on hold, and the automaker eventually turned to Google. The Porsche Macan EV's infotainment system is based on the Android Automotive operating system, which is modeled after Google's open source mobile operating system that runs on Linux. This is not to be confused with Android Auto, an app that runs on the user's phone and communicates wirelessly and projects navigation, parking, media and messaging to the vehicle's infotainment system, or Google Integrated, which runs on Android Automotive. operating system and integrates Google services directly into the vehicle.
Basically, the Android Automotive operating system allows Porsche to develop and integrate its own products and services, such as navigation and applications. It also supports Apple CarPlay, which allows Apple phone owners to project onto the infotainment screen.
“The technological advantages are very obvious and our customers can feel them immediately when they get in the car,” said Timo, who did not provide any information about the delay of software 1.2 or whether Porsche would ever adopt it. “When they get into the electric Macan, it seems like a very fast and very intuitive Porsche user interface because, in terms of appearance, icons and everything else, it feels familiar to the Porsche look and feel.