Once upon a time, the idea of Porsche building an SUV seemed crazy…let alone an electric vehicle. But both have worked out pretty well for the brand.

Now it’s time to put the two together. This is the 2024 Porsche Macan Electric and we recently headed to the south of France to get behind the wheel for a first drive!

Let me reassure you: the combustion-engined Macans aren’t going away…yet. The Macan Electric will be sold alongside gas-powered Macans moving forward. And they even get their own trim names: the Macan 4 and Macan Turbo.

But the electric Macan gets its own platform: PPE or Premium Platform Electric, which was co-developed with Audi.

While the dimensions are close, the exterior design also veers from its ICE counterpart with aerodynamic styling. Air flows through the unique front fascia and under the body as well as out the flow-optimized wheels, your choice of 20 to 22-inchers. The back has a coupe-like design with an adaptive rear spoiler.

Both EV Macans have a dual motor setup which includes standard all-wheel drive. Also standard is an air suspension with adaptive dampers.

The Macan 4 is your starting point. The two motors give you up to 402 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque for a possible 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds.

“Now I spent a lot of my morning with the Macan 4. It’s the base, all electric Macan, and it’s pretty much all the Macan that most people need. It has what I would refer to as the perfect amount of power for a daily driver. It can get you in and out of places quickly, but for the most part, that power is just on tap and you’re not really accessing it until you really need it.

It also feels really sporty, and that’s probably helped by the weight distribution 48% in the front and 52% in the rear. So it definitely feels more like a sports car.”

And this is the first Macan to offer rear-axle steering which makes this already small SUV feel super nimble on city streets.

Moving on to the Macan Turbo…I know, I know. Since it’s electric, it doesn’t have a turbocharger. But in Porsche’s world, it does have a turbo…in spirit. What that really means is that they’ve beefed up the rear motor. We’re talking up to 630 horsepower and a bountiful 833 lb-ft. of torque for a 0-60 sprint in approximately 2.9 seconds.

“Now I’m in the more powerful Macan Turbo. And mechanically, it’s not all that different from the Macan four. But the biggest difference is, of course, the power. We have a larger motor in the rear, so we have significantly more power, but we also have significantly more torque. And you can really feel the torque at higher speeds.”

And did we mention that it has a top speed of 166 miles-per-hour? And with the Turbo, you get Porsche’s Torque Vectoring Plus for better traction.

Like the Taycan there’s no one pedal driving, which might disappoint EV enthusiasts but stays true to the authentic Porsche driving experience while still recouping plenty of energy during regen braking.

The only battery is a 100 kilowatt hour pack with 95 usable kilowatt hours. The pack is made up of 12 modules which can be individually replaced if needed. It’s an 800-volt architecture which means up to 270 kilowatts of charging. That means a 10-80% charge can be done in 21 minutes. No EPA range figures yet but we estimate around 300 miles of range.

Inside sees a 12.6-inch curved instrument cluster and 10.9-inch central display. Haptic buttons under the display are more streamlined compared to the ICE Macan, leaving more room between the center console for storage. There’s plenty of standard tech and safety features along with a panoramic roof and heated steering wheel. Plus, an available passenger screen. Overall cargo space is ample with a power opening front trunk for additional storage.

Pricing for the 2024 Porsche Macan Electric starts around $80,000 with the Turbo trim bumping that up to just under $107,000. Expect to find these all-electric Macans on the road later this year.

We’ll have more on this all-new Macan coming soon, right here on MotorWeek!