GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Polestar slams down Precept

Minty-fresh Swedish electrified car brand Polestar has finally slammed down an unambiguous statement of EV intent with its dead-sexy Precept concept car.

Due to be unveiled at next month’s Geneva motor show, the Precept, which will probably end up being called the Polestar 4 is both sporty looking, gorgeously proportioned, creatively styled and all electric.

Volvo’s Polestar offshoot has already launched the plug-in hybrids 1 in some left-hand drive markets and primed to release the pure-electric 2 in Europe early this year, the 3 SUV late in 2021 but there's no word on when, or if, the sporty Tesla Model S-rival will be brought to market.

“Precept is a declaration, a vision of what Polestar stands for and what makes the brand relevant,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said.

“The car is a response to the clear challenges our society and industry face.”

While Polestar is shy on revealing its outputs, the four-door, four-seater promises lots of rear legroom and high-speed stability thanks to its 3100mm wheelbase.

With Polestar talking loudly of its sustainability, the seats are made from recycled PET bottles (Volkswagen’s Spanish offshoot Seat announced the same thing today). It claims the headrests are made from recycled cork (though there’s no information about who’s specifically recycling cork) and the carpets are made from recycled fishing nets.

A lot of the composites in the car come from flax, which is not just cleaner, but lighter than conventional materials.

It’s pre-equipped for higher levels of automated driving, with a LiDar unit mounted centrally above the windscreen and a “SmartZone” toting two radar sensors, an HD camera and ultra-sonic sensors all built in where the grille would normally be.

It’s extremely sculpted by Volvo standards, with stretched Thor hammers for the running lights and tail lights, and pronounced hips and a light catcher above the sills. Even the glasshouse’s C-pillar is reminiscent of the Volvo C70 coupe.

It’s surprisingly aerodynamic, too, with wing-mounted cameras instead of side mirrors, while it runs an aero wing on the nose, above the leading edge of the bonnet.

The interior runs a vertical 15-inch touchscreen, while a 12.5-inch digital instrument display sits in front of the driver.

It has been enabled so that Android Auto can take control of the entire interior functionality, thanks to Google’s HMI software, and it boasts both proximity sensors for gesture control and eye tracking.