Polestar Releases First Details of Upcoming All-electric Model
Polestar, the performance-oriented luxury brand created by Volvo’s Chinese parent company Geely, already has a 2-door hybrid sports car coming down the pipe later this year — the Polestar 1. However, the company is already teasing a follow-up sedan that aims to remove the internal-combustion component entirely and take on the likes of Tesla’s Model 3.
Dubbed the Polestar 2, the model will be a four-door fastback built on a modular platform with a battery pack intended to deliver roughly 300 miles of range on a single charge. While that sounds competitive, Volvo has previously indicated the Polestar 2 might start around $50,000. That’s not a far cry from the Model 3’s current starting MSRP of $44,000 ($46,000 until a few days ago), though Tesla promises a base version in the neighborhood of $35,000 later this year.
Due to enter production in 2020, the 2 might seem extravagantly priced if Polestar doesn’t make it truly special. We already know the automaker intends to launch an Android-powered touchscreen and implement the in-car version of Google Assistant on the 2 before it makes its way into other Polestar/Volvo products. It’s also supposed to yield an electric drivetrain that plays host to around 400 horsepower. That, in addition to its luxury-focused interior, should keep folks interested.
The automaker intends to offer the Polestar 2 through all the traditional channels and via the more premium version of its Care by Volvo subscription service — which we have mixed feelings about.
Polestar says it will release full specifications in the near future, as well as a better look at the vehicle. Thus far, the company has only released the single teaser image seen above, but we can already see it adhering to the fastback and light-bar trends that have taken the luxury segment by storm. According to rumor, the 2 will use Volvo’s 40 Series concepts (which resulted in the production XC40) as a blueprint for its exterior. The assembly locale is TBD but odds are good the 2 will be manufactured alongside the Polestar 1 at the company’s new Chinese facility early next year.
[Images: Geely]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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In the U.S. Tesla can expect nothing but obstacles, due t the $7500 price disadvantage it will face against cars like (or better then) the Polestar. The car has the ability to produce better styling than the bull-nosed Model 3, e'll have to wait andse. But the reader who claimed Teslhas a Supercharger advantage is out of touch with EV reality - the Supercharger protocol is doomed - only Tesla will ever have used it and won't be using it much longer. The far suerior CCS protocol is starting to build out, produced by half a dozen organizations and oil companies , charging companies, auto companies, etc CCS car like the Porsche Taycan can recharge twice as fast as any not-so-super-Supercharger , and last week BMW demoed their CCS charger that was three times faster. Tesla's driving ranges also cannot match the Polestar overall. Only one Model 3 variant can match it. Thecompetition sofar has not had a direct Modle 3 competitor, but the ones known and those available are outselling Tesla sales everywhere :the Jaguar I Pace, which nw has 20 major awards and isconsistently recommended over its Tesla competitors, the Model S and Model X, is absolutely hammering Tesla sales in several European countres - outselling Tesla two to one in Holland, and responsible for an astounding 40% drop in Tesla sales in Norway. Even more impressive are the sales of a car not even due out until late 2019 - the Porsche Taycan. Porche previously had doubledits planned production to to extraordinary demand , to 50,000, which is greater than ModelS sales will be , and the other daay announced that every single car it will build the first year has been sold, something the Model 3 cannot say. It also note that a largeportion of the buyers had been Tesla owners. Those Tesla bulls who had claimed there were no Tesla killers on the horizon are now shown to be as accurate as an Elon Musk prediction. In addition to Tesla's now inferior charging technology and inability to provide driving ranges greater than competitors costing half or even a third as much, Jaguar engineers mentioned that they can produce a performance version of their I Pace which could accelerate to 60 in 1.8 seconds,faster than any Tesla(by far) and even faster than the upcoming $250,00 Tesla roadster, which a typically stupid Elon Musk had promised would be the fastest production car on the planet. Another Elon Musk prediction transformed into a lie. Tesla fans tend to be ignorant of the technology and give credit to Tesla for doing what every other automaker can easily do. Now comes an avalanche of 250+ competitors over the next several years, almost every one having a $7500 price advantage in the U.S. and we can expect to find dozens of Model 3 competitors that will rip into Model 3 sales , which at this point have stagnated, before any have even shown up.
The new Volvo brand will likely be a big hit among exotic dancers. That silliness aside, some competition for Tesla will be appearing soon. Part of what makes Teslas so amazing to drive is the electric torque. As other manufacturers come on board, it will be interesting to see how Tesla ups their game. Great for consumers, great for fans of the automobile industry.