The Porsche Macan EV is delayed until at least 2024

Back in July, the then CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blum This was reported by a German newspaper Automobilwoche that his brand would have to postpone the electric battery Makan due to delays in the EV software. At that time, the Macan electric prototypes had already been tested on European roads since May 2021, and it was planned to put them in showrooms only in 2023. However, the authors of the code in the Volkswagen The group’s software division, Cariad, was so far behind that Blum knew it would take at least another year this summer, pushing back the battery-powered Macan until 2024. In a week VW Group boss Herbert Diess was shown the door partly due to software delays, with Blume installed as the boss of the parent company and promising to accelerate the transition to electricity.

How highlighted by Coach, Porsche An IPO prospectus shows a more detailed picture of what’s at stake. Cariad is working on the E3 1.2 software platform planned for the Macan and some others Audi Porsche and Audi are developing electric vehicles that will feature the Premium Performance Electric (PPE) vehicle architecture. The prospectus makes it clear that the delays may also delay “BEV 718 models [Porsche Boxster and Cayman] and Porsche Cayenne.” In March of this year, Porsche announced that its 718 coupe and convertible twins will be launched in 2025. What’s more, because Cariad is also working on the E3 software version 2.0 planned for the car’s Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) architecture, which will replace the PPE vehicle architecture, manpower dedicated to build 2.0 may further slow down the E3 1.2 release.

The E3 2.0 build is important here because Porsche is not required to use it. The luxury maker wants to ensure entrepreneurial freedom as it transitions to the electric age, maintaining its brand value and profitability without pulling too close to other Volkswagen Group brands. He intended to work with Audi, which is developing the E3 1.2 for its own purposes going forward. Next year, Porsche will soon decide to use the E3 2.0, but in any case, the decision should be ready to use the E3 1.2. The sports car the brand is also already planning its own sporty version of the SSP car architecture for an electric vehicle Panameraelectric Cayenneand another electric SUV above the Cayenne, in addition to creating another exclusive EV architecture dedicated to sports cars.

According to some, Porsche’s attention to its needs is one of the reasons for the software problems. Forbes wrote“Porsche’s disappointment in its delivered software stack may be due to a long-standing difference of opinion between Porsche boss Oliver Blum and Audi boss Markus Duesmann,” brand bosses “demand more and more unique details for their own brand identity, reducing the economies of scale planned for PPE ” — and garbage completion targets.

Blume now rules everything VW show, one of the stated reasons being a more collaborative management style than that of his predecessor, Dees. If Blum can hold on to that position, it seems more likely that he will get his way in software and platforms than Duesman. The Audi boss will have to deal with politics to run his own full line-up, which includes the Audi Q6 E-tron, Q5 E-Tron, Q7 The second-generation E-Tron and E-Tron GT, which will use the PPE and E3 1.2 platforms, as well as Project Artemis, are designed to showcase a new, better and faster way to develop electric vehicles.

Whenever the Macan EV arrives, it will bring an 800-volt architecture and “range improvements” over similar electric crossovers. It will be sold alongside the gas-powered Macan for at least 18 months.