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Sam Charlwood14 Oct 2019
NEWS

Porsche Macan EV ‘Turbo S’ set for 520kW pay day

Porsche execs spill the beans on upcoming electric SUV

Porsche executives have revealed preliminary details for the upcoming Porsche Macan EV, which is set to go on sale in 2021.

In a recent interview with

, Porsche director of SUVs Julian Baumann also hinted the traditional internal combustion Macan would hang around until 2023 because “some customers are not ready for EVs”.

The Macan EV will arrive in 2021 sitting on the PPE architecture derived from the new Taycan’s J1 platform.

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It will be sold concurrently with the regular Macan, despite the two sharing “no common body structure” – a considerable challenge for designers, one that will loosely mirror that current Panamera-Taycan arrangement.

Despite this, Meschke said the new generation will be “immediately recognisable” and will “maintain the DNA” of today’s mid-size SUV.

“There are no real differences in the challenges of developing the Taycan and Macan,” Baumann said. “The current Macan is not so aerodynamic and we’re working hard on this. It’s the Taycan team working on it.

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“With the Taycan, we haven’t given anything up to get the aerodynamic performance and I’m confident it will be the same for the Macan. The 600kg battery isn’t beneficial to dynamics, but the low centre of gravity is an advantage.”

Reports are pointing to big power figures for Porsche’s first electric SUV, which will follow the polarising naming convention of the Taycan by being offered in Turbo and Turbo S guises.

The Turbo S will sit atop the range with 700 horsepower (520kW) from two electric motors, one on each axle.

Porsche is set to unleash its most powerful versions first, following with more conventional garden variety versions of the electric SUV.

Porsche deputy chairman Lutz Meschke indicated it would be several years before internal combustion versions of the Macan – currently Porsche’s most popular model – would be discontinued.

“It’s difficult to say when the transformation will end. It’s different by region,” said Baumann, predicting that “30 to 40 per cent” of Porsches will be all-electric in five years’ time.

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