Yahoo Autos Tested: 2025 Porsche Macan Electric 4S
In the web of products offered by the Volkswagen Group, Porsche is always sure to remind the collective about the importance of leveling. Set to replace its extensive gasoline-powered Macan lineup with an electrified menu, the folks in Stuttgart had to figure out how they could transfer this naming system, option sheet, and pricing scheme. By adding the Macan Electric 4S to the new guard, Porsche is betting on high-dollar buyers who think that 630 hp from the Turbo is just simply too much for the kind of domestic driving they'll be doing. But that doesn't mean enthusiast buyers should overlook the 4S, either.
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The Lowdown
The heir-to-the-throne 4S has joined the party for the 2025 model year, adding some diversity to the available group of Macan Electric models. While the rear-wheel-drive base model is fixated on the outright range at a more affordable price point, the 4S comes close to the performance of Porsche's cream-of-the-crop Macan Turbo Electric without imposing on it.
Vehicle Tested: 2025 Porsche Macan Electric 4S
Base Price: $86,895
Price as tested: $TBA
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
How Does It Drive?
Sharing the same 100-kWh battery pack and the VW Group's relatively new Premium Electric platform, the Macan 4S version manages 442 hp and 604 lb-ft of torque through a single-speed transmission with a ratio of 10.0:1, spanning less than 100 hp more than the timid 355 hp from its rear-wheel-drive sibling. By comparison, the next-step-up Turbo version makes 576 hp.
While we admonished the base Macan Electric for its lacking torque curve and forward efficiency, the 4S's performance chops are up for much less debate. It's not surprising that the four-wheel-drive 4S managed better acceleration scores, with two permanent magnetic synchronous motors (one up front and one out back) aiding the SUV's 3.9-second 0–60-mph sprint. For lack of a better set of instruments, my testing parameters for EV acceleration are centered in the gut department, measuring just how jumbled my inner organs are off the line. In a welcome departure from the rear-wheel-drive variant, the 4S is just neck snapping and stomach punching enough to earn the Road & Track seal of momentary-acceleration approval.
The previously praised linear acceleration behavior remains strong in the 4S, only adding an extra degree of stability in driving all four wheels at once. Similarly, the plush, self-leveling active air suspension and exquisite steering response are unchanged by the addition of an electric motor on the front axle. This is sure to be blamed on the $2030 rear-wheel-steering option fitted to my 4S tester, which felt particularly noticeable on Germany's narrow, castle-bound lanes. It wasn't that the 4S was easy to oversteer but rather the initial bite of steering angle came with less angle than anticipated for a 5000-pound chunk of battery and steel. Who are we to shut down the direction eagerness of Leipzig's finest?
One-pedal driving is not available on any Porsche EV products, though I did make use of the finely adjustable braking regeneration on my 4S tester. Ironically, the maximum setting for Porsche's regenerative-braking system feels like the lowest setting in a Polestar or BMW EV, and the brake-pedal action is as natural as ever once you dive into the biting metallic orbs.
What's It Like to Live With?
It's not rude to say the gasoline-powered Macan was getting long in the tooth or, well, just plain old. Representing the highest volume of annual U.S. unit sales for Porsche since 2016, the Macan is nearly 10 years old, and the interior language of the internal-combustion model shows its double-digit age. For the electric version, however, Porsche believes they are speaking to a new generation of buyers, and young ones at that. As a result, the primary focus on the Macan Electric's interior is connectivity.
The Macan Electric is a screen-forward car, with a 12.6-inch digital gauge cluster and a 10.9-inch infotainment touchscreen in the center of the dashboard. You can also add another 10.9-inch screen as a display for your right-seat riders (a $1570 option) and an augmented-reality head-up display for an extra $2530. All of the screens are swift to respond and relatively intuitive to use, even down to the menu design, and I would even opt for the passenger's screen, if only to offer the passenger's independent ability to control music and aid in navigational duties. I'm also giving the Macan Electric a gold-star sticker for its analog volume knob and climate-control switches, a welcome retention in an era of haptic touch buttons.
Upgrading from the entry-level Macan, you're adjusted to think that trim colors and technology upgrades are an upmarket game, one that is not available to those lowly enough to choose a base model. However, my 4S tester felt no different than the rear-wheel-drive version, adorned with classy materials, an open greenhouse, and the right blend of digital technology and analog buttons.
Just like the base version, the ADAS assistance systems on my Euro-spec 4S test car were a nagging nanny at all times. From grabby steering intervention to a shouting speed-limit-alert system, I hope that U.S.-bound Macan Electric models will quiet down a bit.
Should I Buy One?
It's possible that my senses lack a degree of refinement and that I'm easily amused by simple acceleration, but the driver engagement complaints we levied against the base Macan Electric are softened for the 4S. Sure, the sound of moving metals is still lacking in the 4S, but its ability to press me into my seat from a dig and at autobahn speeds is engagement of the most basic kind. And a sense of four-wheel security only augments the 4S's road presence, with the SUV adhering to Porsche's long-held dynamic mandates of sharp steering and level movements.
The 4S version, like its rear-wheel-drive sibling, is not a particularly hard purchase to justify, either. Its base price falls less than $10,000 above the base model and just over $6000 more than the regular Macan Electric 4, but with 43 percent and 26 percent increases in power. Balancing your grocery-shopping needs with peak torque figures may be an asinine endeavor, but I join my fellow Macan Electric owners in those calculations. And the results show that the 4S offers three-quarters of the Turbo version at a $20,000 discount, keeping the purchase price under six figures.
Highlights and Lowlights
We Love:
The quick, well-weighted steering system, no matter if rear-wheel steering is fitted.
Modern, well-designed infotainment system paired with a passenger's screen.
Genuine punch from the accelerator pedal.
We Don't Love:
The green-on-green interior and exterior combination.
The silent powertrain lacks the character of its combustion sibling.
Way too much ADAS intervention (on the European version).
Favorite Detail:
Sport Chrono has long been a favorite feature of Porsche buyers, but my 4S tester was optioned without it. Instead, a digital compass was planted in the center of the dashboard, tracking the magnetic heading I drove and presenting me the opportunity to navigate the old-fashioned way. It's less ostentatious than a cyan-painted centerpiece. I'd choose a compass for my Macan Electric.
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