EV watchers in Germany should keep their eyes peeled for “well camouflaged” prototypes of Porsche’s next-generation all-electric Macan, an undeclared number of which were liberated from the company’s Weissach development centre this week to clock up some real world miles ahead of a 2023 launch.
Porsche announced the milestone achievement on Monday, saying that after initial testing on the proving grounds of development centre, prototypes of the all-electric compact SUV were heading outside for the first time to be tested on the roads.
“Testing in a real-life environment is now getting underway – one of the most important milestones in the development process,” said Michael Steiner, member of the executive board for research and development at Porsche AG.
The automaker said that by the time the Macan was launched onto the market in 2023, it was expected to have chalked up some 3 million test kilometres worldwide in varying conditions, on top of “countless” previous test kilometres that had been driven in a “virtual space.”
The Macan, which will join its newly launched all-electric stable-mate the Taycan, which was reviewed by The Driven here last month – will be the first Porsche to be built on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which will underpin the famous car maker’s transition to pure electromobility.
Steiner said the demanding test program for the Macan, which would be carried out under the extremes of climatic and topographical conditions, would include testing the charging and conditioning of the battery, to ensure it met “very rigorous” standards.
“Like the Taycan, the all-electric Macan, with its 800-volt architecture, will offer typical Porsche E-Performance,” Steiner said, citing development goals including long-distance range, high-performance fast charging and reproducible best-in-class performance figures. “The all-electric Macan will be the sportiest model in its segment,” he added.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.