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Polestar is making good its promise of being an “electric performance car company” with the announcement that it will put its O2 roadster concept into production as the Polestar 6.
The Chinese/Swedish maker says the sports car will be good for up to 650kW/900Nm and sprint to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds. Market launch won’t be until 2026, but Polestar is obviously anticipating substantial demand: it says “interested customers in all active Polestar markets [which includes New Zealand] are able to reserve a car online from 16 August 2022.”
Polestar, formerly a motorsport/tuning division of Volvo, was launched as a separate EV brand jointly owned by Volvo Cars and parent company Geely Holdings in 2017. While its first model, the Polestar 1, was a limited-run performance plug-in hybrid coupe, its first volume production car was the very mainstream sedan-cum-SUV 2, launched in 2019. Also planned are the Polestar 3 medium SUV, 4 coupe-SUV and 5 luxury sedan.
With core technology and styling cues carried across from Volvo for the 2, it’s not always been entirely clear how Polestar will be differentiated from Volvo – especially with the knowledge that Volvo will also be a pure-electric brand by 2023. The Polestar 1 was actually based on a Volvo concept from 2013.
But the Polestar 6 is confirmation that Polestar intends to follow through in creating halo models aimed at establishing enthusiast credentials.
The 6 will employ the bespoke bonded aluminium platform and 800-volt EV architecture being developed for the 5 luxury sedan (based on the Polestar Precept concept).
Polestar has already announced a special launch model, the LA Concept Edition: 500 will be produced with a unique Sky Blue exterior, light leather interior and the same 21-inch wheels showcased on the concept.
Polestar is marking the announcement by taking the O2 concept to Pebble Beach Concours d-Elegance during Montery Car Week in California, 18-21 August.
The 6 announcement means Polestar will be launching four new models in the next four years. Expect to see the 3 SUV later this year (likely a 2023 launch for NZ), the slightly smaller 4 coupe-SUV in 2023, the 5 luxury sedan in 2024 and the 6 roadster in 2026.
Keyword: Polestar electric roadster goes from concept to production reality