2025 Porsche Macan Electric Review: Smiles Before Miles

Well-appointed interiors, engaging driving dynamics, and sleek styling are all part of Porsche's offerings on their sports cars: it's at the bedrock of their brand identity. Sure, their cars are fast, but the speed is paired with quality and engagement. That's what makes many of their models truly special. Thankfully for EV SUV shoppers, those characteristics carry over in a number of ways to the 2025 Macan Electric.

Like the gasoline-powered Porsche Macan, the Electric offers a spacious interior, a smooth ride, and lots of modern tech, but it does so via the silent work of electric motors. To test out the all-electron-powered SUV, Porsche loaned me a Macan 4S. It isn't the most powerful version of the Macan Electric, but the 4S is arguably the Goldilocks version: just enough power to be entertaining, without going overboard. And after commuting with it, stopping to charge, barreling up local mountain roads, and generally living with it for a few days, I'm thoroughly convinced that the Macan Electric is one of the most compelling choices in its class.

Though not the version of the Macan Electric with the most power, using the available launch mode button on the 4S will still push you back into your seat harder than a shove from a high-school bully. It temporarily boosts power and provides impressive stand-still acceleration numbers. Maximum power for the standard Macan is 355 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque. That climbs to 402 hp and 479 lb-ft with the Macan S, and with the Macan 4S those numbers increase to 509 hp and 604 lb-ft.

Even the base model has enough power for passing maneuvers and getting out of its own way, but the 4S is truly entertaining without crossing into the super-pricey Macan Turbo territory; that one has a whopping 630 hp and 576 lb-ft of torque. According to Porsche's estimates, the Macan 4S will rocket from a dead stop to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds. That's a serious feat for a family-hauling SUV, especially considering its quoted curb weight of over 5,200 pounds. 

Sure, the Turbo is faster, but I'd argue that the extra power is a bit too expensive. The Turbo has a starting price of $107,295 (including $1,995 destination fee), compared to the much-more reasonable starting price of the 4S: $86,895. For $20k, I can do without the extra propulsion in my daily driver. 

There are four distinct driving modes in the Macan Electric: Off-Road, Normal, Sport, and Sport Plus. Porsche doesn't actually recommend you take the Macan Electric off-road, but that setting does raise the ride height enough to avoid some underside scratches on your gravel driveway. It seems like the existing mode and correlated software provide a perfect opportunity to develop an overlanding version of the Macan Electric in the future (Macan Dakar anyone?) but Porsche won't say as much. 

Normal driving mode feels relatively banal, just as it should, while Sport and Sport Plus stiffen up the steering and liven up the throttle response significantly. The top portion of the accelerator pedal's travel is much more sensitive in Sport Plus and it feels like the Macan has gone into full attack mode: it's the best for enthusiastic canyon driving. 

One-pedal driving and big gobs of braking regeneration isn't Porsche's thing. They prefer a natural-feeling brake pedal with pad-on-rotor vibes instead, which means the Macan Electric doesn't drive like many other EV SUVs. It gives the Macan a bit more natural feel when you're flogging it on a mountain road, but I would like a bit more of an engine-braking sensation. In Sport and Sport Plus body roll is virtually eliminated, and the 4S is an SUV you can genuinely enjoy driving quickly in the canyons.

Regardless of trim, each Porsche Macan Electric uses a 100 kWh battery. Despite having the same battery, though, range estimates vary. According to the EPA, the standard Macan Electric can go as far as 315 miles on a full charge; with the Macan 4 that estimate drops to 308 miles. From there, the 4S and the Turbo drop to 288 miles of range. That's not class leading, but for something with over 500 horses, it's par for the course.

Driving the Macan enthusiastically I certainly saw a significant drop in range, but not nearly as much as I expected. It's almost as though going full-throttle isn't a surprise for the Porsche's range gauge. Where some automakers program their gauges to be overly pessimistic, I found the Porsche's to be much more accurate. It was also quick to charge at my local fast-charge station. 

Living in an older apartment building gives me the opportunity to check out all kinds of different local chargers and, after downloading Porsche's charging app, I found one close, with a quick charging rate, a short walk from a local breakfast place I like. At a charger with 150 kW speeds, I went from 36% to 86% in just 25 minutes – barely enough time to enjoy my breakfast sandwich and more than enough to get me through several days of my average city commute.

At some car meets, in some parking lots, Porsches reign supreme. If you pull up in a bright-orange C8 Corvette, people might be interested, but a rare, air-cooled model or a fancy new GT3RS with a special paint color will likely get much more attention. That's the kind of place I drove on my first full day in the Macan Electric, and I quickly discovered that Porsche people will ask you all sorts of questions even if you aren't driving a Carrera or a Cayman. "How much power does it have? What's the price? Is it fun? Do you like driving it?" These aren't the kinds of questions you'll get in your new Prius, and certainly not from Porsche owners. 

More than once, internal-combustion-powered Macan owners approached me and told me how much they liked the look of the Macan Electric, or even preferred it. The keyboard warriors may not be satisfied yet, but the Porsche community seems to thoroughly accept this as one of their own.

Extra-large bumps and road imperfections make their way into the Macan's cabin, but most of the small stuff is absorbed by the smooth-riding air suspension. The optional 21-inch wheels aren't ideal when it comes to soaking up uneven surfaces, and I'd recommend sticking with the standard 20-inch wheels instead. On top of having a smooth ride, the Macan is also silent on the inside. Part of this can be attributed to the double-layer of glass on the side windows, but also the excellent cabin construction meant there were zero squeaks or rattles of any kind.

In the front and in the rear, there's plenty of legroom and headroom for adults. This might be the smaller of the two Porsche SUVs but it's spacious enough for four and it can easily seat five if required. During my test the seats were comfortable and supportive without being too sporty. The side bolsters were just large enough to hold me in place on curvy roads without being uncomfortable on my wide frame. 

Behind the rear seats, there are 18 cubic feet of cargo space which should be enough for a family's worth of small airport carry-on bags and the groceries can fit up front in the small 2.9-cubic foot frunk. Filed under 'small imperfections to complain about' is the temperature of the heated and ventilated seats. They didn't get quite warm enough or cool enough when the temperatures called for it.

Finding buttons in the inside of the Macan Electric is a bit tough while you're driving. Parked up, when you can look at Porsche's smooth, glossy panel of mostly touch-sensitive switchgear, locating the right commands is no problem; once underway, things aren't so easy to locate. At least most of the controls are a pleasure to engage with, the knurled switches being just what I want in my climate controls, tactile and responsive. There are some lower-quality plastics on the door cards and in the center console, but they're in areas that you don't touch very often.

I can't remember an SUV I've driven in recent years that had a better steering wheel than the Macan Electric. It feels like it's been plucked directly from the 911 (who knows, maybe it has) and it fits my hands perfectly. There are a few shortcut buttons on there, but nothing gets in the way of the primary task of driving. The cupholders are a bit lower in the center console than I'd like, but having my massive coffee tumbler buried down there meant there was plenty of elbow room when I hit up the nearest mountain road. 

The screens inside the Macan Electric are excellent: high-resolution with crisp graphics, they're easy to read at a quick glance. Finding the ports for the USB cables is significantly tougher, since they're hidden away out of sight under the center console. This could easily be a problem if you were taking your cables with you. or plugging in different devices on a regular basis, but it only came up once for me.

Then, there's the excellent Bose stereo. Maybe I've been to too many loud concerts, but I like my car stereos to be loud. The Macan Electric indulges this hearing-loss-enabled desire, and the stereo gets plenty loud with good quality across the acoustic range. The Bose surround sound system is optional, but it's an extra I'd check off if I were building one from scratch.

Driver aids like lane-keep assist were present, but not overly persistent in their warnings. Adaptive cruise control also played a part in my test, helping me keep my distance on the highway, but I found even its closest setting to be relatively conservative: it left more than enough space for other drivers to swoop in front of me, so I turned it off most of the time.

The base price for the Macan 4S Electric is pretty hefty: $86,895 (including $1,995 destination fee) was the MSRP on my test vehicle before the options started adding up. To that, Porsche had added 21-inch wheels ($2,310), 14-way adjustable comfort seats with comfort memory ($1,350), Provence paint ($1,240), the leather package in black/blackberry ($1,180), the Bose surround sound system ($990), the Sport chrono package ($980), thermally and noise insulated glass ($930), front ventilated seats ($650), rear heated seats ($570), Porsche Electric Sport Sound ($500), advanced four-zone climate control ($470), and a 115-volt power outlet in the luggage compartment ($160).

Altogether this particular EV SUV has an MSRP of $98,225. That's a big price tag, but there are a number of options I'd pull off that list if I were putting the car together myself: I'd skip the outlet in the trunk, axe the big wheels, and save 500 bucks on the sporty noises. Even though it's costly, of all the trim levels on the Macan Electric, I prefer the 4S.

It has some flaws, but the Macan Electric has made its way to the top of my list when it comes to luxury EV SUVs. It's pricey, but that's not uncommon in this class of posh, high-performance, family-hauling electric vehicles. Driving range is limited compared to the class leaders, but not inadequate for average travel needs, and the daily-driving experience is excellent. Sure, there are some pain points, but none of them are enough to detract from the Porsche's overall appeal. 

Porsche has struck an excellent balance between entertaining driving dynamics and comfort that should fit just about any need, provided you've got the budget of course. More affordable rivals like the Genesis GV70 Electrified are also worth considering, as are upscale options like the BMW iX or the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, but it's hard to go wrong with the Macan Electric, and especially the 4S.