As Volvo's high-end pure electric vehicle brand, Polestar has taken the same path as all new car-making companies. The new brand has been losing money when it first launched, but it is also necessary to insist on releasing new products. Recently, Polestar announced that it will actively expand its product lineup to become a company focused on electric vehicles, with the goal of turning a profit by 2025.
Polestar has announced new plans for 2025. Volvo and other know-how will be used to differentiate performance. Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath listed Porsche as a competitor. As Volvo announces the transition to electric vehicles by 2030, it plans to have a significant impact on performance.
Polestar does not use Volvo's bodywork and is working on an aluminum frame chassis, not for compatibility with Volvo, but for Polestar's stand-alone use. In addition, by supporting the ADAS function corresponding to Level 3, drivers can perform other actions such as watching videos or reading without driving when specific environments are met. To that end, Polestar decided to use Luminar's LiDAR technology.
The motor is also an in-house independently developed, self-designed motor, codenamed P10, with dimensions of 36 x 50 x 64 cm in length x width x height. This motor features 603 horsepower with just one motor. It is expected that with a dual-motor configuration of two, it is not difficult to achieve more than 1000 horsepower. To effectively deliver powerful performance to the road surface, two transmissions have been added like the Porsche Taycan.
It also has the help of parent company Geely, which is designed to be used with 400-volt and 800-volt battery systems. Although the 103kW charge is not super fast charging, it is expected to be fully charged at 80% in 20 minutes. In addition, it supports V2G (Vehicle to Grid) functionality, which can use the vehicle's power through two-way power supply.
New Polestar models with these features will be mass-produced through the Precept concept. When it was mass-produced, it was named polestar 5 and was a low, wide, sporty 5-door model. The competitor is the Porsche Taycan.
At the moment, Polarstar is not completely far away from Volvo. Released a medium to large electric SUV based on the SPA platform adopted by the XC90. However, it is said to have been tweaked to be more performance-oriented. The design will also be distinguished by coupe roof lines and sporty elements. The name will be known as the Polestar 3, and the competitor model will be the Porsche Cayenne. The price is expected to be around $80,000.
The Polestar 4 will be a compact electric SUV. For the Porsche Macan, the possibility of developing an ICE architecture based on the SPA platform or Geely was mentioned. The price is set at approximately $50,000.
With the launch of the new vehicle, Polestar plans to increase its sales from 29,000 in 2021 to 290,000 in 2025. This is not simply a plan to increase sales. Instead, it wants to independently develop into a high-end pure electric vehicle brand.
Polestar was spun off from Volvo in 2017 and operated independently. Originally started with the STCC Polestar racing team, it was acquired by Volvo in 2015 as a high-performance brand, and the racing team changed its name to Cyan Racing.
Headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, it has a vehicle assembly line in Qingdao, China and South Carolina, USA. It is scheduled to be listed on the NASDAQ market in the first half of 2022. Its business is said to be worth $20 billion.