Now a stand-alone company, Polestar has just unveiled its first production car which will hopefully give Elon Musk’s Tesla and BMW a run for their money.
As you know, Polestar was just spun off from the mothership Volvo as an independent company, previously Volvo’s performance car division. It’s now separately-branded electric performance brand to take on the likes of Tesla and BMW.
Volvo itself is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which acquired Volvo for USD1.5 (MYR6.34) billion from Ford in 2011.
The new company just unveiled its maiden model called the Polestar 1, which will go into production by 2019. The sexy car was built in Sweden, but put together in Chengdu, western China.
The Polestar 1 is a performance hybrid coupe. With a internal combustion hooked to an electric motor, it produces a whopping 600bhp and 1,000Nm of torque. Yes, that much torque in a coupe guise.
The Polestar 1 is a 2+2 seater, two door Grand Tourer Coupe with what the company calls an “Electric Performance Hybrid” drivetrain. Most hybrid cars on the road features an internal combustion engine that is supported by an electric motor.
But for the Polestar 1, it is the complete opposite where it features an electric motor supported by a regular combustion engine, similar to the Fisker Karma and the Cadillac ELR.
When relying solely on the electric motor, the range is 150km. That figure makes it the longest electric output in any electric vehicle (EV) in the market. It is based on Volvo’s Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA).
But since it has a 50% input of the Polestar custom works, it will no longer be labelled as a Volvo.
The Polestar 1 is fitted with an all-new, class leading Öhlins Continuously Controlled Electronic Suspension (CESi). Also, unlike some cars, the Polestar 1 will come with a carbon fibre tub which will increase stiffness by 45% and also having a lower center of gravity.
Looking at the Polestar 1, you can easily tell that it has most of its design cues from the current Volvo S90 sedan. With the Thor’s Hammer LED headlights, large grille (omiting the Volvo logo), rear LED taillights as well as interior design.
It also comes with a similarly designed dashboard with the 9.5 inch touchscreen and digital speedometer. Current Volvo owners will easily adapt to the Polestar 1’s interior albeit with a huge difference in performance output. Some would call it a Volvo S90 Coupe for instance. But it definitely is a handsome looking beast.
For better handling, the Polestar 1 will come with torque vectoring through a double electric rear axle layout. This will further elevate the driving experience with accurate acceleration on each wheel whilst providing maximum traction.
As we speak, the company is now taking orders for the Polestar 1 which will be assembled in Polestar’s state-of-the-art production centre in Chengdu, China in which construction will be completed by next year. Polestar expects to build 500 cars a year.
Source: Polestar
