Porsche: The next Macan will be electric

German premium carmaker Porsche has confirmed what many may have been wondering – the next generation Macan will be electric, and will add a second all-electric name to Porsche’s initial steps towards electrification.

Rumours have abounded about a Macan with electric drivetrain for quite a while now – an unknown all-electric Porsche that suspiciously looked like a Macan was even part of an ultra-fast charging test in mid-December 2018.

While there are no confirmations that particular vehicle was indeed a Macan, Porsche is now admitting that it has been considering developing an all-electric version of the Macan as early as July 2018.

Design-wise, Porsche is not giving much away – the only image released so far by the carmaker is of a Macan body from 2014 being given a coat of paint.

It can be expected however that it will not depart far from the 2020 Macan ICE, and is expected to be kitted out with two permanently excited synchronous motors with the ability to accelerate from 0-100km/h well under 3.5 seconds, and to 200km/h within 12 seconds.

What we do know is that it will be built at Porsche’s Leipzig plant, where the German carmaker currently makes the Cayenne SUV and ICE Macan.

Instead of using the current Macan’s Modular Longitudinal Platform (MLB), the new all-electric version will use Porsche’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, which it has been developing in collaboration with Audi, and will be used for Porsche and Audi all-electric vehicles starting from 2021.

It will also use the same 800 volt architecture that the Taycan uses, allowing it to charge at top speed using 350kW infrastructure, amounting to 100km of range in 4 minutes – even faster if using the 450kW charger seen in December’s tests.

“Electromobility and Porsche go together perfectly; not just because they share a high-efficiency approach, but especially because of their sporty character,” said Oliver Blume, management’s board chair for Porsche AG in a statement to the press.

While Porsche is investing €6 billion into the transition to electric mobility, with a goal to add electric drivetrains to half of all new models by 2022, Blume says for now, Porsche will also continue to focus on efficient petrol engines and PHEV models.

“Our aim is to take a pioneering role in technology, and for this reason we will continue to consistently align the company with the mobility of the future.”

The Macan joins the Taycan, the production version of Porsche’s Mission E concept that Sydneysiders had a chance to catch a glimpse of last year at Barangaroo.

There are to date two official versions of the Taycan – the original SUV version, as well as a second crossover Turismo version that was confirmed in October 2018.

There has also been a third, unconfirmed version – a Taycan Sports Turismo. While Porsche have not come clean on the details for this vehicle, it has been spotted being tested in the wild and doubt will be the next announcement for the premium carmaker.

The Taycan is set to enter the Australian market after a public premiere that has been planned by the German carmaker at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show – there is no news as yet on when we will see the all-electric Macan on Aussie roads.