The GTS has an active suspension that’s normally set to 11 millimetres lower than the other electric Macans.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Why am I here to test-drive the all-new Porsche Macan GTS when Porsche already makes a Macan GTS? A gasoline-powered, 434-horsepower, $103,000 twin-turbo V6 that reaches 100 kilometres an hour from standstill in just 4.5 seconds?
Ah, because this is the new, all-electric edition of Porsche’s compact SUV, which is both quicker and more expensive, and which drives completely differently than its sibling.
There are now nine versions of the Macan: four are gas-powered and have been little changed in the last several years, while five are electric-powered. The GTS (for Gran Turismo Sport) is traditionally the best-handling vehicle of the lineup, and the $136,000 electric GTS sits just below the most costly edition: the even more powerful Turbo Electric with a selling price, before taxes, of $144,000.
All the statistics can get confusing, but for the purposes of this review, bear in mind that the most basic electric Macan costs about the same as the top-of-the-gasoline-line Macan GTS. Is the electric power of the GTS worth paying one-third more?
Well, the electric GTS is faster and it’s easier to drive. Sit at a traffic light with one foot hard on the brake and the other hard down on the throttle – there’s no noise outside or strain on the motor – then let go the brake and the car will launch you up to 100 km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds using 704 lb-ft of torque to do so. That’s way more than the 405 lb-ft the gas engine can muster. This is from an electric car that weighs 443 kilograms more than the gas car.
The GTS is not about such stoplight shenanigans, however. If that’s what appeals, buy the turbo and shave another half-second off the time. The GTS is about handling.
The GTS has 509 horsepower (563 with launch control) and 704 lb-ft of torque.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Change the drive mode and you can change the interior sound of the motor – it’s totally artificial, pumped through the speakers.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
“The 4S and the Turbo were developed to be more everyday suitable, but the GTS driver might have a different expectation of what ‘sporty driving’ means for them,” says Calvin Kim, a product spokesperson for Porsche Cars North America. “For all our GTS drivers, enthusiast driving – driving on twisty roads – is part of the reason why they bought the car.”
This means the GTS has an active suspension that’s normally set to 11 millimetres lower than the other electric Macans. They’ll all raise and lower with changing the electronic drive modes, but with the GTS, “this pays dividends,” says Kim. “You don’t have to drop it into Sport or Sport Plus if you don’t need to. You’re always going to get the benefit of that suspension alignment and (lower) centre of gravity.”
I drove the Macan GTS Electric back-to-back with the one-grade-down Macan 4S Electric on the same stretch of winding canyon road and the difference in handling when the car was pushed was noticeable. The GTS tracked flatter and was more composed, and yet the suspension hardware is almost identical – the difference is in the tuning and calibration.
“We realize that most people are not going to take their Macan GTS to the track,” says Kim, “but this is a GTS and it is a Porsche, so it has to be able to do that.”
The electric car does not, however, have manually adjustable braking regeneration or simulated gears. Approaching a corner in a traditional car, you would gear down to slow the vehicle and leave it in a high rev range to exit the turn, but the only way to slow the Macan GTS Electric is to use the brake pedal. After all, its electric motor will always be in a state of peak torque for the exit. It’s easier to drive – just point and shoot – but to a traditionalist, it’s not as satisfying. Or maybe I’m just old.
Looks
The Electric GTS seems sleeker than the conventional GTS and, like all GTS models, it stands out from other variants with its various black-painted details on the accents as well as its standard 21-inch wheels. All those swoops and lines and ridges serve a purpose to either streamline the vehicle or direct air onto the brakes or into the cooling system.
Interior
There are lots of optional colour combinations for materials to add to the cost, but the GTS does come standard with comfortable, 18-way-adjustable sport seats. The front of the cabin is best thought of as a cockpit while, in the back row, there’s enough room for two or three adults in a pinch. Change the drive mode and you can change the interior sound of the motor – it’s artificial, pumped through the speakers, but convincing and satisfying.
The rear seats have enough space for two adults or three for a short drive.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
Performance
This is where it’s all at, and the Macan GTS Electric handles very well indeed. The low centre of gravity only helps, compared to the gas-powered model, and the weight is biased ever-so-slightly in a 48-52 split over the rear axle. My test car had rear-axle steering, a $2,320 option, that allowed up to five degrees of angle for the rear wheels for quicker turns.
I’m sure the always-peak power will make the electric GTS quicker on a track than the gas GTS, but I prefer the connected feel of gearing down into corners instead of just braking till the last moment and then stamping on the throttle.
Porsche is not yet making an official claim for the GTS’s electric driving range, but all Macan Electrics share the same 100-kilowatt-hour battery. Porsche did say the GTS is expected to drive at least the same, if not better, than the 460 kilometres of the less powerful 4S and that would bear out from my own experience at the wheel.
Technology
The really high tech is in the suspension tuning and in the battery charging. The GTS is built on 800-volt architecture, which is actually composed of two battery units with separate modules, so it can handle fast charging at a steady 270 kilowatts (250 kilometres of charge in 10 minutes) or slower charging at a steady 135 kilowatts (120 kilometres in 10 minutes). There’s a Level 3 CCS port on the right side and a Level 2 CCS port on the left, but a NACS adapter is supplied for plugging in to Tesla Superchargers. The plug-and-charge process is seamless through the Porsche app at many chargers.
The driver’s assistance is also getting smarter. The car can be trained to travel up to about 300 metres on its own, to park itself on a learned route after dropping you at your front door, for example. It can also reverse itself for about 100 metres on the exact same course it just drove if you should find yourself stuck at the end of a dead-end street. Who thinks of this stuff?
Cargo
There’s not as much space as the gas-powered GTS, but it’s respectable at 476 litres behind the rear seat or 1,348 litres with the seats folded flat (compared to 1,503 litres for the gas car). There’s also an extra 84 litres of space in the frunk.
The GTS has 476 litres behind the rear seat or 1,348 litres with the seats folded flat.Mark Richardson/The Globe and Mail
The verdict
The Macan GTS Electric is almost everything a Porsche should be, with the power and capability to back up its sporty looks. It’s certainly the top choice among the five electric variants if you appreciate tackling a winding road or a track, but I still prefer the gas-powered edition to enjoy the feel of the PDK transmission and its connection to the drive.
Tech specs
2026 Porsche Macan GTS Electric
- Base price / as tested: $136,942/$154,042, including freight and pre-delivery inspection and luxury tax, plus tax
- Motor/battery: Electric motor with 900-amp silicon carbide pulse inverter/100 kilowatt-hour
- Horsepower/torque (lb-ft): 509 (563 with launch control)/704
- Drive: All-wheel drive
- Power consumption/charging capacity: 21.4 kWh/100 km (observed)/270 kilowatts
- Curb weight: 2,438 kilograms
- Range (claimed and observed): 460-plus km (estimated)/460 km
- Alternatives: Audi SQ6 e-tron, Genesis GV60, Polestar 4, BMW iX xDrive60, Tesla Model Y Performance, Hyundai Ioniq 5N
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.
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