The fully-electric Porsche Macan hasn’t even been announced yet, but the fossil-fuel powered SUV is already on the chopping block, with only a few years left in its life before Porsche pulls the proverbial plug.
No, this isn’t some wild speculation or rumour started by an overzealous online blog. Rather, the news came straight from the mouth of Macan product boss Sebastian Staiger. In an interview with Autocar UK, Staiger said that the ICE-powered Macan will likely be replaced completely by the all-new electric version in just three years’ time.
When probed further on the purported switchover date, Staiger said: “Today, no final decision has been taken, but we assume that 2024 will be the year.”
And the reason? Well – one of them, at least, is of course our old friend carbon emissions. “There are several limiting factors in a vehicle project. One of these factors, of course, is legislation. Emission laws are another limiting factor,” Staiger explained.
The strict Euro7 emissions regulations are set to come into effect in 2025 in europe, making it potentially unviable for carmakers to continue making fossil fuel-powered vehicles – especially high performance models.
Couple that with new ICE cars being outlawed completely from 2030 onwards in several countries, and the decision becomes even more straightforward for Porsche.
As for the EV Porsche Macan, it’ll most likely be revealed at some point next year, and go on sale in 2023. It will be the first electric model to be built on the new Premium Platform Electric architecture (PPE) jointly developed by Porsche and Audi, with the latter’s Q6 E-Tron also to arrive sometime next year.
The PPE platform was first previewed on the Audi A6 e-Tron concept at the Shanghai Auto Show this year.
Not much technical information has been revealed just yet, but Porsche said that it’ll be built on the same 800-volt electrical architecture as the Taycan, and promises to be the “sportiest model in its segment.”
The PPE platform allows for longer ranges (supposedly “significantly more” than the Taycan), and supports fast charging of up to 350 kW, plus repeatable performance figures.
Thailand is phasing out combustion engines, pushing to have only new EVs in 2035. Learn more here.
If you’re still thinking about a petrol-powered Macan, there probably isn’t a better time to walk into the Porsche showroom than right now. The Macan range was only recently updated with minor visual tweaks inside and out, plus performance upgrades across the board with the 2.9-litre V6 biturbo engine in the range-topping GTS variant now making 440 hp and 550 Nm of torque.
