Sales volume remains miniscule; still, Polestar believes it has everything in place to thrive as a seller of high priced cars and crossovers. Production of the first two models is underway, market launches in many countries will happen soon and additional models are coming into view. Will Volvo and Geely’s fully charged sports EV division fly or falter?
If Polestar can cope with everything that’s been thrown at it in recent times – COVID 19 in the launch market being the big threat – then logic suggests it should be easily able to withstand any other random disaster. With luck, turbulent times should now behind this brave brand, the mission of which is to go after the same types of customers who continue to pay not insignificant amounts of money for Teslas.
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Sales targets have not been made public, and you get the feeling that Li Shufu sees Polestar as something of an incubator, albeit a well funded and strongly focussed one. Provided the people with the money to buy the brand’s cars like what they see, there is theoretically no reason why things won’t work out well for this significantly costly experiment.
Launching Polestar with a single, low volume, steeply priced vehicle was an unusual move but it might have worked, if the cars which follow the 1 bathe in its exclusive, high-tech success. Let’s look at these next models.
Like Geely’s taxi and the former Chevrolet Volt, the 1 is a REEV (range extending electric vehicle) but Polestar’s second model is fully electric. It was first announced in 2017, heralded as a car to compete with Tesla’s Model 3.
The 2, revealed in February 2019 just ahead of its world debut at the Geneva motor show, looks much the same as the Volvo 40.2 from May 2016. Power is 300 kW (408 PS), torque is 660 Nm (487 lb-ft), there are two motors, a 78 kWh battery pack (72 kWh in China) with a ‘targeted range of 500 km’ under WLTP (Europe) and NEDC (China) test cycles. The targeted range for the USA is 275 miles (EPA).
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By GlobalDataPolestar says the car has ‘a standard vegan interior’ which is a clever move: a fresh choice of brand for those who find it difficult to know if a car contains components which caused suffering to animals. Also, unlike the 1, the 2 will be available with right-hand drive. Due to the Coronavirus, production was delayed until March and as with the 1, this takes place in China. The Luqiao plant is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding and operated by Volvo Cars.
“Initial launch markets include China, the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Other markets are under consideration for future expansion”, Polestar stated as part of its February 2019 media statement announcing the car.
Only a high-priced Launch Edition will be available during the first twelve months of production with the division’s CEO Thomas Ingenlath stating at the 2019 Geneva motor show that he envisaged 50,000 sales per annum. Even if that target remains, the mix of where cars will be sold has surely shifted due the current expansion of the Chinese market and contraction of the US and Europe. Details of the 2’s platform, other facts and expected life cycle can be found in PLDB.
The brand’s third model is to be a “…larger [than Polestar 2] SUV-style BEV, the Polestar 3, which will create a modern expression of electric performance and driving dynamics,” a media release has stated.
The 3, originally due towards the end of this year but now more likely to arrive in 2021, is presumed to be aimed at the Audi e-tron, BMW iX3, Mercedes EQC and others in that class of 4.8-4.9 m long electric crossovers and SUVs. It should be either the final model to use Volvo Cars’ SPA or else one of the first for PMA.
Production of the 1 winds down next year, although that doesn’t mean that Polestar’s model range will shrink. In fact it will expand, with the arrival of the 4. This electric sedan or five-door hatchback will go after the Audi e-tron GT and if it’s still being built, the Tesla Model S.
The Precept (see image) should have given guidance for a general outline of the 4’s looks. This concept was supposed to have had its public premiere at the Geneva motor show in March. The Chengdu show in July could be where the public gets to view it for the first time.
“People ask me all the time, ‘what is the future of Polestar?'” and of course we are not showing our future models just yet,” company CEO Thomas Ingenlath stated as the concept was revealed online in April. “But Precept shows you where we will be heading – our design direction, our ambitions about sustainability and the great digital user experience we will bring with those future cars. Precept showcases our future, not as a fancy dream or something out of a sci-fi movie. This is our reality, to come.”
Further details of the Precept and Polestar 4 can be found in PLDB.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future platform intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of GlobalData’s Automotive Intelligence Center. That includes Polestar’s first model, the 1.
This was the final report in a five-part series which looked at the passenger vehicle divisions of Geely Holding. Brands covered were Maple, Geometry (Jihe/Ji He) and Geely itself; followed by Lynk & Co and then by Proton and Lotus; and before Polestar, Volvo. The next OEM to have its future model plans put under the microscope will be Groupe PSA.
Polestar teams with Plugsurfing for EV charging
