Porsche Begins Testing Its Macan EV

Many details about the vehicle are still (literally) under wraps

Porsche Macan
Porsche employees carry out the final quality control on a Macan before it rolls off the production line.
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

When it comes to electric vehicles, Porsche has ambitious plans for the coming years. It’s one of several bold initiatives for the German automaker — including a subscription service — and it includes an all-electric version of the Macan. Earlier this month, Car and Driver reported that the Macan EV was slated for production in 2023, and that its range is projected to be greater than the Taycan’s 227 miles.

Design and engineering can only get you to a certain point, though, and now the next-gen Macan faces its biggest challenge yet: being tested out in the world.

At Autoblog, Ronan Glon reports that Porsche has begun testing the new Macan. This follows a period of internal evaluation; now that the Macan EV has gone as far as it can in that process, the time has come to see how it performs on roads outside of Porsche’s headquarters. The article notes that the testing will involve “[racking] up nearly 2 million miles in some of the most extreme environments the planet has to offer.”

Glon also notes that the test version has some of its body obscured, so details on how the Macan EV will look are relatively sparse. “Porsche added a pair of fake exhaust tips to each test mule’s rear bumper to fool onlookers,” Glon observes — a truly next-level distraction. So if you’re out in the world and see a camouflaged car that looks somewhat like an existing Macan, you never know — you might be in the presence of an iconic automaker’s particularly ambitious venture.

Win the Ultimate Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix Experience

Want the F1 experience of a lifetime? Here’s your chance to win tickets to see Turn 18 Grandstand, one of Ultimate Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix’s most premier grandstands!