Porsche Confirms Macan EV Delay To 2024 Over Slow Software Development

Porsche has confirmed that the all-electric Porsche Macan has been delayed to 2024, which goes to show that reports from earlier this year were accurate.

In July, sources told Germany’s Automobilwoche that the electric Macan and its PPE platform sister model, the Audi Q6 e-tron, risked being delayed by about a year because Volkswagen Group’s CARIAD division is behind in developing advanced new software. Porsche has confirmed the delay in the share prospectus issued as part of its IPO last month, where it noted that deliveries of the Macan EV are planned to begin in 2024.

“The Group is currently developing, together with CARIAD and Audi, the E3 1.2 platform for deployment in the all-electric Macan BEV, which the Group plans to begin delivering in 2024. […] In part due to delays at CARIAD and the Group in developing the E3 1.2 platform, the Group has already had to delay the start of production (SOP) of the Macan BEV.”

Rather worryingly, the automaker warns in the prospectus that since the E3 1.2 software platform is still under active development, “a risk remains that the Group will not achieve its existing cycle plan for new vehicles on schedule, in particular BEV models of the 718 and Cayenne.”

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Porsche notes that the successful development of the E3 1.2 platform and the start of production and launch of the Macan EV are prerequisites for the continued development of further vehicle launches in the coming years which are also expected to rely on this software platform.

Also in the prospectus, Porsche expressed concerns that delays or difficulties in the development of the E3 1.2 platform could be further exacerbated by the fact that CARIAD is currently developing a separate E3 2.0 version of its platform in parallel. 

Should CARIAD potentially allocate greater development capacity and resources to the new platform instead of further developing the E3 1.2 platform, it “could force the Group to rely more on its own efforts and expertise or seek support from other third-party developers.” Porsche added that it has an option to not take the E3 2.0 software architecture and go its own way for future vehicles. A decision regarding this is expected to be made sometime next year.

The Macan EV will be one of the first production models to use the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) co-developed by Audi and Porsche. It will use a similar 800-volt electrical system to the Taycan with improvements in range and DC fast-charging at up to 270 kW. The battery-electric Macan is scheduled to enter production before the end of 2023 at Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, where the current ICE model is made. So far, Audi has not confirmed a delay of the Q6 e-tron.