The 2023 Porsche Macan EV Might Already Be the Best Car in the World and Here’s Why

But what does that mean for a passenger vehicle? How can you say that this or that car is the complete package and which boxes would such a car need to tick in order to please everybody?

First, there is no pleasing everyone. Someone who’s in the market for an F-150 cares very little about how good of a car the Ford Fiesta is, and vice versa. So then, we need to establish those boxes, taking as many factors as we can into consideration. This means being objective, which in turn means that major factors such as styling or pricing can’t be as important as driving dynamics or versatility – although they still matter.

What do I mean by that? Whether a car looks good or costs too much is something for each buyer to decide. However, whether it's fun to drive or practical, well, those are quantifiable facts.

With that in mind, I’ve worked out a system for figuring this stuff out, only to realize that what could be the best overall car in the world isn’t even in production yet.

Alright, here’s what we need from such a vehicle: It must belong to a popular segment, it must be practical, it must be fun to drive, high-tech, safe, emissions-free and available in most markets. You also need some brand recognition and while pricing is more of a subjective factor, it also can’t cost $1,000,000, otherwise you can’t really call it a popular choice. This is an everyday car.

The fact that we’re looking at the most popular segment and we know practicality is important means that the best car in the world is an SUV or a crossover-type vehicle. Size is not that important here. What’s important is the form-factor and the fact that you know that if you absolutely had to, you could take it a little bit off the beaten path, or at least sleep peacefully knowing that you have a little more ground clearance than you would in your typical 4-door sedan or hatchback.

So, we’re now looking for an SUV/crossover that's also emissions free - ergo fully electric. Plenty of those around, right? Unfortunately, we need to eliminate every single one of them that can be described as large, or even mid-sized by some standards. The reason is simple: a big SUV won’t handle as well as a smaller one, so goodbye Tesla Model X, goodbye BMW iX, GMC Hummer SUV... you get the picture.

Of course, there are still a lot of current and upcoming compact/mid-size electric SUVs and crossovers to consider. Just off the top of my head: Tesla Model Y, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Audi e-tron, Jaguar i-Pace, Kia Niro EV, VW ID.4, Volvo XC40 Recharge, Cadillac Lyric, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, Mazda MX-30, Nissan Ariya, Toyota bZ4X, and the list goes on.

But which one of these vehicles do you think is sporty? I mean it, actually sporty, as in fun to drive on a twisty road or a racetrack. None, right? The answer must be something that wouldn’t lose out in terms of driver engagement to a BMW X3 M or an AMG-powered Mercedes SUV. It must be the best at what it does, while still being practical, battery-powered, and so on.

Do you know which SUV currently does the best job at making you feel as if you’re driving a sports car? You’ve known the answer to this question all along – it's the Porsche Macan, and come next year, it will be available across the globe in fully-electric spec, riding on an entirely new platform. It will also share the same 800-volt battery tech with the Taycan, plus it will have fresh coupe-like styling, a large digital dashboard, the works.

On paper, this should be the most dynamic SUV out there, simply because of that Porsche badge.

Bear in mind, I don’t want to make it seem like being fun-to-drive is all that matters here, but in a way, it matters more than some of those other factors because it helps transform a people hauler into a pseudo-sports car and that’s rare, if not borderline impossible.

Electrifying the Macan was a genius move by Porsche, especially since they skipped right over that “small” step of turning it into a plug-in hybrid first. It's also easily the best-handling SUV out there, and a member of the most popular passenger car segment. It’s practical enough for a small family, it starts from $54,900 (not horribly unaffordable big picture-wise), it has decent ground clearance, and it has all the badge-recognition you'll ever want.

In other words, the current 2022 Macan already sounds like the best overall passenger vehicle in the world and once you add battery electric power to the mix (which is going to make it handle even better thanks to a lower center of gravity), well, go ahead, talk me out of getting it fitted for a crown.

Some speculate that pricing for the all-new Macan EV will start from around $60,000, which is plausible seen as how size-wise, it fits right between an Audi e-tron and a Q4 e-tron, with the former being priced from $65,900 while the latter costs upwards of $43,900.