‘You wouldn’t replace your engine’: Porsche says there are ‘myths’ around EV batteries as its new 2025 Macan is designed to maintain battery life and resale – Car News

Resale of electric vehicles has become a hot topic as the electrified market has exploded in the past few years. Residual values have been heavily impacted by continually dropping new car prices and skyrocketing supply to help meet demand.

The most notable example of this is the Tesla Model 3, as the electric market leader continually slashes prices and adds supply of new vehicles impacting the value of older examples. The effect has reached most corners of the second-hand EV market as many buyers fear other unknowns like battery degradation after the warranty period ends.

This is something Porsche buyers won’t be so adjusted to, as the brand’s models traditionally hold onto their value longer compared to other luxury vehicles. This puts the new 2025 Macan in an awkward position, as the popular sports luxury SUV will be going electric-only for its new generation before the end of the year.

Speaking to Australian media at a preview event for the new electric-only Macan though, the vehicle’s body program director Stephan Lenschow explained how the Macan’s new PPE (Premium Platform Electric) underpinnings were designed to maintain long term serviceability from the beginning.

“The key is to have the chance to repair the battery” he said of future values, “One of the big things is to make the battery repairable in modules, not the complete pack. We’ve managed this in the development process, and it works. If the customer has a problem with the battery, we can repair and not swap the whole battery out of the car [which is also] not good for the environment.”

“It’s a challenge because you have to open this nice battery, take out the parts, then re-work it, but it was one of the goals we had for this battery [in development] that we can maintain it.

Local Porsche Communications Director Alexis Truscott, added: “From a local standpoint we’re also looking at GFV [Guaranteed Future Value] and the battery has an eight-year warranty. I know there’s a lot of speculation and a lot of myths around needing to replace your batteries. 

“Just like you wouldn’t replace your engine, you wouldn’t replace the [whole] battery. It’s supposed to last the life of the car.”

The lifetime potential of the current crop of battery packs is largely unknown as they have been on the market for a short period of time. Innovations in battery chemistry and particularly in temperature management systems in just the past few years for current-generation models should mean the steep battery capacity drops experienced by many older second-hand EVs like the first-gen Nissan Leaf (which had an air-cooled battery) may not ring true.

Tesla claimed in 2023 its data was showing batteries for its older vehicles like the Model S and Model X had on average degraded just 12 per cent at the 200,000 mile (322,000km) mark.

To confuse things further, the now widespread and more affordable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry is claimed by battery manufacturers to have even less degradation than the previously more commonplace and higher-power density nickel-manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistries used by many older EVs and EVs with higher power output requirements.

The Macan uses a new NMC battery sourced from China’s CATL. It is a 100kWh unit utilising an 800-volt architecture, which grants both launch variants over 500km of WLTP-certified driving range.

It is capable of charging at up to 270kW on DC, allowing a 10 -80 per cent top-up time in 27 minutes, or in 33 minutes when using a 135kW 400-volt charger. Its powerful motors can output up to 470kW/1130Nm, and can even regenerate at up to 240kW.

The electric-only Macan was expected to be sold alongside the previous combustion model for some time, but production for the old car has already ended and no new orders can be made.

Porsche Australia says the new version will arrive before year’s end, with orders placed now expected for delivery in February of 2025.