STUTTGART: Porsche is fettling an all-new, electric SUV set to slot in above the Cayenne and herald a series of further electrics as the traditional maker of combustion-engined performance cars seeks to reduce emissions.
The first car with no local emissions to carry the Macan badge gets the same 800-volt architecture as the Taycan sports car and will be capable of powerful 270 kW charging.
The Macan uses a new electric platform (PPE) developed together with Audi. This allows more flexibility in terms of drive and dimensions and is designed for larger unit numbers.
From 2025, Porsche wants to sell every second car as a plug-in hybrid or pure electric vehicle and to achieve a battery share of 80% by 2030.
Porsche previously announced that its final petrol-powered models will roll off the production line in 2024.
The new SUV will have a 100 kWH battery, which is good for a range of some 500km. Porsche said fast charging will replenish the cells by up to 80% within 25 minutes.
Range-topping Macan versions will come with twin electric motors turning out up to 450 kW/612hp and with stump-pulling 1,000Nm of torque to match.
The upright Macan takes styling cues from the low-slung Taycan with similarly-shaped headlamps.
Porsche has promised that the electric Macan will offer "long range, highly efficient quick charging and reproducible best-in-class performance figures." This would make it "the sportiest model in its segment."
The Macan is one of the bestselling Porsche models and the company shifted 18,000 units in the first quarter of 2022.
