Porsche Macan Electric – performance and 0-62mph time

Four-wheel drive, 630bhp Porsches are usually called 911 Turbos, but the flagship Macan Turbo packs this kind of heavyweight punch beneath its new, slightly awkward looking fastback body.

The Macan delivers its maximum outputs on overboost when launch control is active. For the base car, that means 355bhp and 415lb ft of torque – enough for a 5.7sec sprint to 62mph, 20.9sec to 124mph and a 137mph top speed. 

Stepping up to the Macan 4 adds a motor at the front for a combined 402bhp and 479lb ft. The extra power and traction trims the 0-62mph time down to 5.2sec, and takes nearly 2sec off the 124mph time. The top speed is unchanged. 

Then it’s a big jump to the 4S, which is boosted up to 509bhp and 605lb ft of torque. 62mph comes up in just 4.1sec, 124mph in 14.3 and it tops out at 149mph. Those aren’t Tesla-beating numbers, but in the real world you’ll hardly want for more punch, and the way the 4S instantly punches forward on demand makes it effortlessly flexible and effective. 

The Turbo, meanwhile, gets a beefier rear motor for peaks of 630bhp and 833lb ft, slashing the 62mph sprint down to just 3.3sec – a full 1.2sec faster than the petrol-engined Macan GTS. A launch control start feels like going into warp drive, and is something you’ll probably only do a couple of times before feeling nauseous. With the ESC in Sport mode you get a scrabble from the wheels before the acceleration hits you with full force, and there really isn’t much that could hang onto the Turbo’s bumper. Particularly in slippery conditions, where the traction control expertly blends in the power to make use of the available grip.