Backport PR pandas-dev#48472 on branch 1.5.x (PERF: keep using ObjectEngine for ExtensionArrays for 1.5) (pandas-dev#48486)

Backport PR pandas-dev#48472: PERF: keep using ObjectEngine for ExtensionArrays for 1.5

Co-authored-by: Joris Van den Bossche <[email protected]>

Author: meeseeksmachine

pandas/core/indexes/base.py

@@ -5154,6 +5154,9 @@ def _get_engine_target(self) -> ArrayLike:
         if isinstance(vals, StringArray):
             # GH#45652 much more performant than ExtensionEngine
             return vals._ndarray
+        if type(self) is Index and isinstance(self._values, ExtensionArray):
+            # TODO(ExtensionIndex): remove special-case, just use self._values
+            return self._values.astype(object)
         return vals
 
     def _from_join_target(self, result: np.ndarray) -> ArrayLike: