If you want to spend $155,000 on a car this year, listen up. The Polestar One should be on your radar. It is the new Swedish-Chinese built Grand Touring coupe made by Polestar. Who is Polestar? They are Volvo’s new eco-luxury brand that is planning to take on Tesla. Originally they were Volvo’s performance division, much like what AMG is to Mercedes. However, Polestar was never really that successful as a performance brand despite making some cool cars such as the C30 Polestar. However, most Polestar cars during the performance era were mainly concepts and were always canceled out by Volvo bosses. They did make a few cars such as the S60 and V60 with originally a V6 then later on a twin-charged 4-cylinder.
Polestar was re-launched as a standalone brand by Volvo with the help of Geely, who is the parent company of Volvo. The new Polestar cars will not be made in Sweden. Instead, they will be made in China, where there is a huge electric car industry. It will one-hundred-percent be easier for Polestar vehicles to be made in China since accessing the needed battery technology, etc is far easier. Plus it means Polestar vehicles can be sold within China for a much lower price as the taxes will be less.
The first-ever Polestar car isn’t electric. However, it will be the only gas car they will ever make. The Polestar One is powered by a four-cylinder motor with both a supercharger and a turbocharger. This is known as a twin-charged engine. It also has two electric motors on board as well as a starter motor too. The gas engine pushes out 300hp and 273 lb-ft of torque all to the front wheels. The two electric motors push out 232hp and 354 lb-ft of torque which is all sent to the rear. The final motor being the starter motor pushes out 68hp and 111 lb-ft of torque.
Combined the car pushes out 600hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. They are some very high figures indeed. The car does a 0-60 in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph. The Polestar 1 is also AWD and only available in LHD configurations despite the car still being offered in markets such as the UK and Australia whereby they drive RHD cars. Furthermore, only 1500 will be built over three years. That is 500 a year.
It’s a Very Stylish Car
The first thing you notice with the Polestar One is the fact that it is a very stylish car. It’s not flamboyant like a Lamborghini or as striking as an Aston Martin. However, the Polestar 1 is a very crisp car. It’s very modern and extremely cool. The reason why is because it’s minimalistic inside and out. There isn’t anything excess on this car except the pop-up spoiler, however, that’s needed for aerodynamics.
The man who designed the Polestar 1 was called Thomas Ingenlath. Other cars he deigned include the Polestar 2, the Skoda Fabia, and the Skoda Roomster. He was once Volvo’s head of design but is now CEO of the Polestar subsidiary. Life for the Polestar 1 started out as the 2013 Volvo Concept Coupe. Inspiration from the Polestar 1 design has been taken from the Volvo P1800 coupe from the 1960s. That for Volvo was a very stylish coupe that was loved worldwide.
It’s a car that carries a lot of Volvo heritage. It in fact looks like a modern-day P1800 which is probably what Volvo wanted anyway. It very much looks like a Volvo too since the car started life as a Volvo but now it’s a Polestar.
Inside too it’s very minimalist but also very Volvo-like. It has a vertical screen, vertical air-vents, a minimalist gear selector, and very thin seats with soft leather and patterned stitching. The interior is also duo colors. The seats at the front are different from the tiny ones in the rear. It’s a very luxurious interior but it’s hardly unique. It is very organized though and you know where everything is.
It’s a Very Comfortable Car
The Polestar 1 isn’t a supercar. It’s a GT. That means it’s made more for comfort rather than speed. It handles quite well as it does have AWD and Ohlins Continuously Controlled Suspension which can easily adapt to any road condition in correspondence with the car’s driver setting. It has powerful front brakes made by Akebono. They are six-piston brakes with a carbon fiber wing. This is all so the car feels as secure as possible and that there is nobody roll. It has got a very stiff body too which also helps with handling and comfort.
For years Volvo has been making very luxurious cars. They have been making luxury cars now for many years and they tend to prioritize luxury over performance. The Polestar 1 just rides so smooth and it’s a car to crush continents rather than set lap times. It’s also not too noisy either.
The Polestar One then is a very refined classy car. It’s elegant and it’s the sort of car an architect may drive. It definitely does take after the Scandanavian design form of clean sharp lines and minimalism. In fact, the Polestar 1 may just be the best-designed car this year. It’s just balanced right and although it may not be a head-turner like a Lamborghini, it still will receive a lot of appreciation wherever it goes. It’s such a nice car and it’s the sort of car you can drive every single day since it’s so comfortable.
It can also solely run on electric power only with an electric range of over 100 miles. Therefore, you can daily drive this car on electric mode and on the weekends use it in petrol mode to have a bit of fun. The trunk is also decently sized too and what you’ll also find in the trunk which is interesting is a glass panel showing the battery components. Reason why? Well, Polestar (really it’s Volvo) says gas supercars get away with showing off their engines with a glass panel. Therefore, why can’t electric ones too?
The Polestar One is an elegant machine with a lot of potential. It’s sad that only 1500 will be made but either way that may increase the resale value. Though there is sure to be a waiting list for this car and since each car will take a lot longer to make than other Volvo models, you may have to wait a tad longer for yours.
Featured image credits via: autocar.co.uk