After a big debut with the Polestar 1 and receiving great feedback from the 2 and the 3, the Scandinavian brand chooses to break paradigms with the upcoming Polestar car
Searching for something new to offer is classic in design. New visual features, new product concept, even whole new products. In fact, that desire is so common that is has become cliché. When everyone claims to have developed something new, we cannot help but wonder what is truly new. Sadly, that approach often leads us to frustration: many of those products may be great in many aspects, but not in innovation.
Even though Polestar is quite young, it has already proved how committed it is to innovation. Not with its minimalistic visual identity or its effort to be sustainable. After all, everyone wants all that to some extent. The brand manages to innovate in details; it reworks items we often take for granted. The latest Polestar car, for example, has reworked the rear end. As the photos anticipate, it simply does not use a rear glass.
What is Polestar?
The first chapter of this story is Flash Engineering, a Swedish racing team founded in 1996. Later, it traded hands, became Polestar Racing, and started to tune Volvo cars for racing. This partnership evolved to the point of becoming the maker’s official sporty branch, much like AMG for Mercedes-Benz. Now as Polestar Performance, the company kept modifying Volvos until the Swedish automaker fully acquired it in 2015.
Two years later, it became a standalone brand focused on premium electric cars. The first Polestar car was the 1 (one) and came in 2018 as a limited edition using hybrid powertrain. The 2 arrived in 2020 and the 3 a few months ago. All those cars share the brand’s signature minimalism, which appears at the Tesla-style dashboard and even at its color palette. However, Polestar’s history has some exciting chapters as well.
Who makes Polestar cars?
Polestar became an independent brand after Volvo was acquired by Geely. Therefore, both brands belong to the Chinese automaker at the same level. Polestar was born as sort of Volvo’s alter ego, reproducing its stoicism, but it quickly developed its own image. For example, the first Polestar car had a brief promotion where you could pay for the car using artwork. The company believes it will become a collector’s item.
Once Polestar earned full brand status, it was clear it would deserve a large design department. The group bought back an iconic studio that Volvo Cars used in the 1980s, located in Gothenburg. The company has also developed a complex pro-environment policy, where it aims to minimize its carbon footprint. The big goal is to refine itself to improve its batteries, use recycled materials, and reduce its production waste.
Is Polestar a good car?
Yes, and for several reasons. Polestar cars dazzle with their design, stay on top of the latest trends with the electric powertrain, and impress with their sustainability. However, the division has found yet another way to attract the spotlights. The Polestar 3, for example, was designed from the beginning to be fully electric. It is also the first to completely embrace the Swedish company’s very first independent design identity.
While the 2 stays halfway between four-door coupés and SUVs, the 3 goes to the heart of today’s fiercest market segment. It features a massaged version of the typical SUV design aiming at better aerodynamics without forgoing ample cabin room or tall seating positions. This Polestar car is important for yet another reason: it marked the beginning of the division’s master plan of releasing one new car model per year.
What is the latest Polestar car?
While we are still waiting for the 6 sedan, the Polestar 4 has emerged as the first offspring of the Precept. This model appears as a crossover coupé, which is perfectly suitable for today’s market. However, this car has made the news for a quite interesting – and innovative – reason: take a close look at the rear end. The newest Polestar car, which debuted at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, simply does not use a rear glass.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath describes the car’s innovation as “a new kind of immersive rear occupant experience”. Rear view comes from a high-definition camera mounted on the roof. The nice part is that all cars will use a panoramic glass roof that extends behind the rear occupants’ heads. Optionally, that roof features electrochromic functionality, which means you can make it transparent or opaque as you wish.
When it comes to corporate image, Polestar has everything to thrive in the global market. It is backed by Volvo’s reputation and Geely’s finances, and yet it has already built a strong presence of its own. With this series of innovative cars, it can become a serious threat in the luxury market. The best part is that Polestar is doing all that using something as simple as innovation. Innovation in its purest and simplest form.
Frequently asked questions
Geely. It is a Chinese automaker which has become prominent in the car world over the past years.
They are designed in Polestar’s brand new studio in Sweden. Manufacturing takes place in China.
Not anymore. Volvo effectively acquired Polestar in 2015, but it was already part of the Geely Group itself. Nowadays, both Volvo and Polestar are independent brands owned by Geely.
In the USA, the Polestar 2 has a base MSRP of $48,400 while the Polestar 3 starts at $83,900. The Polestar 4 is expected to fall between those prices.
Danillo Almeida has explored his passion for cars in two distinct ways. The first one is his graduation course in Mechanical Engineering, which will hopefully lead to a job position in the field. The other one is expressing his knowledge and opinions on the matter through writing. Almeida has already contributed to blogs, stores, and websites in general writing automotive content in many formats.
