Porsche’s all-electric Macan will receive the long-awaited PPE architecture.
Porsche’s all-electric SUV is set to be revealed this week and we’ve just been given our best look yet at the upcoming Macan EV. Due to be unveiled on Thursday 25 January, the Porsche Macan EV will feature evolutionary styling over the current internal-combustion engined Macan, but the latest technology from the Volkswagen Group.
It’s high time that a second-generation Macan was unveiled because, despite being the brand’s second best-selling model globally (behind the Cayenne), the sporty mid-size SUV is now 10 years old and is being forcibly axed in Europe due to new cybersecurity regulations.
There’s going to be lots of changes for this next Macan, but the most significant is the fact that it’s all-electric, as Porsche takes aim at the BMW iX3, Lexus RZ and forthcoming Lotus ‘Type 134’. The Porsche Macan EV will utilise a new bespoke electric-car architecture called Premium Platform Electric (PPE) that was co-developed with Audi. It’ll be used as the basis for its next zero-emission Audi SUV: the Audi Q6 e-tron, also being launched this year.
This will be the first time that one of Porsche’s famous nameplates moves across from a combustion-engined model to EV, but it won’t be the last. The Boxster and Cayman sports cars, as well as its big-selling Cayenne SUV, are all going electric in the near future.
We’ve caught the new electric Macan testing multiple times, and Porsche itself has released dozens of images of phototypes, so we have a fairly complete picture of what it looks like.
The latest imagery comes courtesy of a Porsche designer who’s sketched the front and rear of the new Macan EV. It’s our best look yet at the all-electric SUV and confirms much of the exterior design previously hinted at by camouflaged test cars.
The headlight cluster is thin and rather like the Porsche Taycan’s with four individual horizontal LED strips within. Below this we can see a set of secondary lights and there’s no upper grille, just a thin opening low down in the bumper integrating the radar system and some active air flaps, which makes for a relatively aggressive front end. The overall design of the front bumper is also on show in our latest images, combined with a protruding lip spoiler.
The Macan EV has taken some inspiration from the Taycan for its rear design too. In the official sketch we can see Porsche’s light-bar partiality remains strong, along with ‘Porsche’ script embedded just below the light. Although it’s not on show in the sketch, previous spy images have shown an active rear spoiler in various positions.
The profile of the Macan EV is much more rakish than that of the out-going ICE model, with the roofline sloping down to the boot opening in a more coupe-SUV-esque style. It creates a more sporting stance, and improves aerodynamic efficiency, which is hugely important for electric cars. Porsche has added some active aerodynamic elements to help in this department. So when cruising the rear spoiler moves into its lowest position, the front air flaps close and the ride height becomes lower. The result is a drag coefficient as low as 0.25Cd, compared to 0.29Cd for its iX3 rival.
Unlike the Audi Q6 e-tron (which will be offered in SUV and coupe-SUV ‘Sportback’ guise), the Macan EV is only likely to be offered in the coupe SUV-like shape we’ve seen it in.