In a world filled with milquetoast crossovers and bland SUVs, one sure-fire way for an automaker to get everyone’s attention is to unexpectedly sling an attractive new convertible.
That’s exactly what Swedish company Polestar has done on this wintery morning, introducing a slinky 2+2 droptop concept car called the O2. Taking cues from the brand’s Precept design language, this all-electric two-door is being touted as a forward-looking vision of open-top lifestyle mixed with an entertaining driving experience.
“Polestar O2 is the hero car for our brand,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar. “It opens the door to our secret chamber of future potential. This is a taste of what we can design and engineer with the talent and technology we have in-house.” While the company is mum on what might power this roadster, that last sentence suggests Polestar could pluck EV guts from one of its existing models, should the O2 ever go into production.
Described as riding on a bonded aluminum platform, the concept uses bespoke bones adapted from what was developed for the upcoming Polestar 5 four-door GT car. That machine likely won’t see the light of day until 2024, since the company needs to concentrate on getting Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 models out the door. Those two crossover-style SUVs will surely be the brand’s profit centres.
Given this is a concept car, it should be expected there are some flights of fancy — pun intended. An autonomous cinematic drone is integrated behind the rear seats, it could be deployed while the car is moving to record driving moves on your favourite two-lane blacktop. Allegedly, the drone can track the car at speeds up to 90 km/h and the user can select between ‘atmospheric’ or ‘action-filled’ filming styles. Again, this is all concept-type stuff.
It is not without some measure of comment that we’ll note a certain California-based EV company — Tesla, you may have heard of them — got their foothold in the automotive market by hawking this type of car. In that instance, they leaned heavily on Lotus for build and styling choices but proved to all hands there’s market space for a fast-as-snot EV roadster. Polestar has the advantage of being able to choose their own styling adventure, evolving their own design language and crafting machines like the O2.
Keyword: Roof! Roof! Down, Boy! Polestar shows O2 convertible concept