Yahoo Finance Porsche stock higher as it reveals Macan EV details
Porsche (P911.DE) is speeding ahead with its EV transition, revealing new details of its Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which will be the basis for many of its high volume electric cars.
The PPE platform, co-developed by Audi, is a crucial step for the automaker as it pursues its goal of having 80% of sales be pure electric cars by 2030. And it is these pure electric sales that investors are banking on following the automaker’s IPO in Germany at the end of September.
Though the company just announced it has now produced 100,000 Taycan EVs globally since its debut in 2019, crucial to the company’s valuation is electrifying the Macan SUV, which was Porsche’s best seller in the U.S. last year. The Macan EV will be the first Porsche based on the PPE.
“The [PPE] is allowing us to use it for numerous models; we chose the Macan because it is a very good selling model at the moment in the U.S, and we hope to achieve the same selling numbers of course with this car,” Antoon Janssen, Porsche powertrain manager for the Macan, told Yahoo Finance. “And [it] will help us reach numbers that we aim for at the end of this decade, mainly on our way to 80% of volume mix as EV cars.”
The Macan EV powered by the PPE is slated to arrive in 2025, and it appears to be a very compelling package. Available in rear motor or dual motor all-wheel drive, the 800-volt architecture combined with the 100kWh battery will push out around 603 horsepower, with torque topping out at around 737 ft-lbs in higher trim levels.
The new battery pack will consist of 12 modules with prismatic cells, allowing for higher energy density and higher charging capacity. The batteries in the Macan will also allow for “bank charging” when using a 400-volt charging station; meaning it will split the 800-volt battery into two 400-volt batteries, and allow for parallel charging of both parts.
As for driving dynamics, the Macan EV will feature Porsche’s “performance rear axle,” which allows for the rear motor to be positioned further back for better performance, as well as rear-axle steering for more nimble handling. Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus will come standard on higher trim levels, which provides an electronic locking differential for both on-road and off road traction.
Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) is also included as in the all-wheel drive models, providing air suspension that can be adjusted depending on drive mode, and can likely lift the Macan when needed over certain terrain.
All told, the powertrain, battery, and chassis setup of the PPE offer a compelling package of performance, one that will be a key differentiator for the Macan as it does battle in an increasingly competitive mid-size EV SUV space.
"This platform will give Porsche the opportunity to profitably market high-volume models to high technical standards and thereby electrify a further important part of the portfolio," the company said in a statement.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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