Our Porsche Macan EV Cannot Justify Its $100,000 Price Tag

• Our Macan EV has racked up over 8,000 miles so far. 
• One thing that keeps coming up: the experience not matching the price tag.
• For $100,000 we expected something more special than we're getting.

The base price of a new Macan 4 like the one in our One-Year Road Test fleet is $80,795 after destination charges. But once you add the goodies — and for Porsche that means practically anything — the price starts to balloon. Some of the big-ticket items we opted for were the Papaya Metallic paint ($1,240), some 21-inch wheels ($2,310), the 14-way comfort seats ($1,350), rear-axle steering ($2,030), an augmented reality head-up display ($2,530) and the Comfort package, which brings ventilated front seats, a Bose audio system and LED matrix headlights, to the tune of $3,910.

In the end, our Macan ended up being one of the most expensive cars we've ever put in our garage, but the experience just doesn't stack up. Director of editorial content Steven Ewing said, "Every time I get in the Macan, it feels less and less like a vehicle worthy of a nearly $100,000 price tag. There are so many great Porsche qualities — the steering, the ride and handling — but the interior? No way." And that isn't solely down to our relatively drab black-on-black interior color combo. 

A little credit where it's due, most of the surfaces inside the Macan are covered in leather and the door pockets are nicely carpeted. It's the bits that aren't so nicely finished where the Macan starts to fall apart. The rails that border the center console are made of a cheap-feeling plastic, as are all the speaker grilles, as is much of the dashboard. Plus, there is a lot of piano black here, from trim on the doors to the passenger's part of the lower dash and the center console control pad. 

Script writer Duncan Brady honed in on that, saying, "These center stack buttons feel so cheap. The whole panel moves when you press down, and although I’m glad there’s some auditory and tactile feedback, I’d much prefer physical controls." We definitely miss the old Macan's litany of buttons that spanned the length of the center console area. Plus, the gear selector in our car feels dinky and silly, and the Bose audio system isn't the upgrade we were hoping for — it's flat-sounding with little in the way of real bass. 

Frankly, our Macan's interior is just boring. Now, you can make it a brighter place to be with more interesting colors and textures, but you'd have to spend even more money.

Thinking back on previous cars from our One-Year Road Test fleet, the Macan is a stark contrast to another electric crossover we tested: the BMW iX. Manager of written content Cameron Rogers said it best: "My first thought when stepping into the iX's cabin for the first time: 'Oh wow, BMW is really going for it these days, aren't they?'"  

He wasn't the only one. Our iX's logbook was awash with praise for the SUV's far-from-traditional interior design and material choice (pictured above). Sure, it can be had in the same black-on-black configuration as our Macan, but there are interesting shapes and textures regardless of color palette. 

Not one member of our staff has complimented the Macan EV's interior in a similar way. The fact of the matter is that you're paying far too much for what you get. Our iX cost similar money — a cool $102,070, to be exact — but it was the most expensive iX you could get at the time, and that's before you account for the fact that it's a physically bigger car with equipment (standard or otherwise) our Porsche doesn't have. 

The BMW isn't the only example of a similarly priced EV having an interior that dazzles. The Rivian R1T we bought in 2022 is another example of how to do an interior really well. The dash was layered with lovely open-pore wood, as were parts of the doors and center console. The cabin let tons of light in and the seats had multiple materials and textures. Heck, even the floor mats were interesting. And guess what? The Rivian was nearly $25,000 less than the Macan, at $76,250.

A 360-degree view camera system and a rear windshield wiper are commonplace on six-figure automobiles — our iX had both — but they are not found on our Macan. They're optional extras we didn't specify, and the lack of both has caused consternation among our staff. But the fact that they just don't come standard is an example of a company nickel-and-diming its customers. What we paid for our Macan is nowhere near its true price ceiling, and that's a tough pill to swallow.

For this kind of money, you want to be surrounded by something that has genuine character. Something that you look forward to getting into, not something you lament for forgetting silly options like a rear window wiper. Our Macan does not give us that satisfaction.