Text by Jamie Nonis
Dua Lipa flashes on the screen, larger than life from my front-row seat. The British pop sensation narrates how she would direct a Porsche ad for the first all-electric Macan, spliced with a series of super cool vignettes set to the soundtrack of her hit, Training Season.
Zombies are chasing the Macan she’s in in one scene. She’s racing against herself on a hot lap around a race track in another.
She’s a bride in white running out of a church next, then preggers in the backseat. She’s even driving on the moon’s surface in yet another erratic transition. Finally, she’s in a Macan fleeing a stampede of wild horses and elephants in the two-minute film written and co-directed with French film director Clément Durou. I’m excited.
I think I overhear one of the Porsche execs mention a “surprise” at the end, and I half-expect Lipa, who’s been a Porsche ambassador since 2023, to walk onto the stage where the media briefing is being held at Mövenpick Hotel Stuttgart Airport.
Well, that was just wishful thinking, but ever the eternal optimist, the delulu continues, and I secretly hope they’ve paired me with Lipa for tomorrow’s drive. It’s a fantasy as fantastical as Lipa’s Macan video, but more bizarre things have occurred in this peculiar world as wickedly wild as Trump’s second term return to the White House, so you never know.
Alas, ‘twas a flight of fancy indeed, as there was no sign of Lipa that wet October Friday. Instead, they’ve partnered me up with Nui, a famous YouTuber from Thailand whose personality proved just as mercurial as the Macans’, providing me endless entertainment on our hour-long drive.
Equipped for off-roading adventures
We opt for the Macan 4S Electric, the first of two electric Macan models we will test-drive on this little road trip further south to Metzingen. It is in a decidedly more sensible hue, Oak Green Metallic Neo, next to the base model Macan Electric in Frozen Blue.
The Porsche Macan 4S Electric on its merry way to the city of Metzingen, about 30km south of Stuttgart. (Photo: Porsche)
It’s been a good decade since the first Macan debuted, and the electric version of Porsche’s best-selling SUV — a smaller sister to the Cayenne that’s sold 800,000 units globally — made its world premiere in Singapore earlier this year with two electric variants: The Macan 4 and the Macan Turbo.
Now, the entry-level Macan Electric and the Macan 4S Electric, the third model in its range, have been introduced. They are built on the same premium electric platform based on 800-volt architecture and further equipped with a new rear-axle motor, giving the latter a short power over-boost of 380kW (509hp) and 820Nm torque with Launch Control.
You certainly feel the electric boost as we did once we hit the autobahn, zipping up from standing start to 100kmh in 4.1 seconds flat and walloping portions of the speed-limit-less freeway a little shy of the vehicle’s 240kmh top range.
Option it: A new off-road design package is available to all Macan Electric models for more serious off-roading adventures. (Photo: Porsche)
There’s a new adaptive rear spoiler to make your everyday SUV sportier and even more aerodynamic. In contrast, the new off-road design package available to all models as an option means you can now raise the vehicle for increased ground clearance by up to 8.8” for more serious off-roading adventures.
Would you really want to, though? We didn’t go all hardcore on the remote journey through the countryside. Nobody is at risk of forgetting this isn’t your standard SUV as luxury trappings abound, even for the base model, which starts from about a quarter million in Singapore.
The new adaptive rear spoiler on the electric variants imbue Porsche’s best-selling SUV with an even sportier and more aerodynamic stance. (Photo: Porsche)
Simply look at its new “Porsche Driver Experience” virtual displays, which feature the latest-generation augmented reality technology and power three screens: a 12.6-inch curved instrument cluster and a 10.9-inch central display. For the first time, the passenger side gets its optional infotainment screen, which also streams video content.
Or, in our case, it doubled as a new-age jukebox of sorts as Nui happily played DJ when it was my turn at the helm, bringing such joy to our collective inner 80s child.
Also new: The passenger side’s infotainment screen allows the passenger to adjust controls and even stream video content. (Photo: Porsche)
Exacting agility and ample range
With an ample 606km of range at our disposal, running out of range was never a concern on the 50km scenic route to Motorworld Village Metzingen, a historical relic of the industrial age disused. It is repurposed into a 26,000 sqm event space teeming with old-world charm.
The base model Macan Electric in Frozen Blue still packs a punch, though not quite as much fun behind the wheel as the sportier Macan 4S Electric. (Photo: Porsche)
This is where both man and EV refuelled, so to speak. The vehicle gets recharged (from 10 to 80 percent within 21 minutes via a fast charger), and after lunch, we swapped our 4S Electric for the base model Macan Electric. Both are rear-wheel drives, but the difference was palpable.
In hindsight, it was perhaps unwise to have begun the journey in the higher-performing 4S, which proved far more agile and exacting.
By contrast, the base model offers a more modest 265kW (355hp) of over-boost power with Launch Control and 563Nm torque — still packing a punch as we punch up to the century mark in a less brisk 5.7 seconds on the straights.
A tad less sporty than its higher-specced siblings, the Macan Electric instead flaunts the longest range of up to 641km. (Photo: Porsche)
More unwise, however, was my unbridled enthusiasm in attacking the tight corners of nearby mountain roads with the same overzealousness as in the 4S in my attempt to re-enact Dua Lipa’s exciting exploits in her video.
I glanced over to the passenger seat, and Nui’s about-to-hurl face turned a little ashen, so I quickly eased off the pedal. But the Macan Electric? Absolutely none the worse for wear.
This article was first published in The Peak Singapore.
