Polestar details its electric road ahead

Polestar is still settling into the production cycle of its first mass-produced electric vehicle, the Polestar 2, but already the Swedish car-maker has set out with grand plans on performance and sustainability.

In a wide-ranging interview with Australian media, Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath and a line-up of top-ranking executives spoke candidly about Polestar’s aspirations to capitalise on its small company footprint and make good on bourgeoning EV consumer interest globally.

The fledgling car-maker unofficially ‘launches’ in Australia this month ahead of the opening of pre-orders for its very first model, the Polestar 2, which will begin trickling into the country from February next year.

Following in the wheel tracks of the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3 is expected to launch locally at the beginning of 2023.

The Porsche Cayenne-sized SUV will be followed thereafter by the Polestar 4 and Polestar 5 models, all destined to reach Aussie shores by 2025.

“I have no trouble imagining a Polestar line-up with eight products there … but it’s about what’s realistic,” said Ingenlath.

“We have to take this incredibly big step over the next three years and make sure we don’t get caught up in too many things.

“We have these three cars in development and they are well on their way. We will not come with this typical next-generation strategy … that leaves us a great opportunity.

“We will have the freedom not to go in the footsteps of the previous car … we can develop car along with how society develops and how the need and situation changes.”

Although Australia’s Polestar take-up will remain small in the scheme of things, Ingenlath is confident that increased competition between EV manufacturers will become the major catalyst of mass consumer adoption locally – less so, government incentives or legislation.

“One thing that has clearly changed the game big time here in Europe is the sheer explosion of offer. If you see how many new electric cars are available and of course the commitment of each and every OEM realising that electrification will be the path to the future, that has created an incredible support and acceleration of electrification,” he said.

“If you buy a new car you think, ‘Should I invest my money into an ICE [internal combustion engine] car – that crosses the brain of European customers – thinking about the value of the money you put into the car and how much it will be worth in five or six years.

“That has changed the behaviour of people here in Europe a lot. With Polestar, it’s not just about offering an electric car, it’s about owning an amazing car to drive and to own.”

Polestar is confident it can differentiate itself from other EV brands with a true performance identity – a mandate that includes a healthy degree of separation from parent company Volvo.

The performance direction could eventually spark another foray into motorsport, but Ingenlath admitted that kind of quest wouldn’t happen in the company’s infancy.

“It was very clear from the beginning that electrification will not be a brand differentiation for either us or Volvo,” Ingenlath said. “It is clear that we want to create and are creating a brand that is right on its own.

“Volvo is definitely the brand that is producing the warm, welcoming family car. Everything is very inclusive.

“Polestar is a brand that is attracting and expressing much more tech and innovation, it’s about a sporty drive and performance and the way the suspension is set.

“Of course, it’s not the most comfortable for the two kids in the back when you go over a speed bump. No, indeed it is much more tuned to an engaging drive.

“Scandinavian design has a bandwidth that allows more than one brand to play with a Scandinavian design … Polestar is clearly more about this avant-garde and exclusive look – it’s not a brand that’s trying to please everybody, it’s much more challenging.”

Performance will continue to dictate the direction of Polestar development, Ingenlath said, pointing to the EV manufacturer developing its own battery technology and hardware.

Polestar made its name in performance tuning for ICE vehicles before diverging to an electrified path in 2017. Now, executives have their sights set on producing their own drivetrain tech.

“The next step for our company is definitely to offer our own electric motor, and that type of peak power position will be a Polestar development,” Ingenlath said.

“Clearly Volvo has not even the interest of offering such a powerful engine arrangement, that is part of the development of Polestar.

“With the Polestar 2 we will go into performance tuning with the software but with the next Polestar model we will go into the hardware and have our own electric drivetrain.”

As with other EV manufacturers including Tesla, over-the-air updates will also be integral to Polestar development.

Buyers in Australia will be able to access these updates to improve not only infotainment functionality, but potentially driving range and efficiency, according to Ingenlath.

“We’ve learned a lot about over-the-air updates and improving the car – improving the efficiency of the powertrain, adding more feature and function and improving what we have today,” he said.

“We’ve already been rolling that out for owners of the first car, they’ve already got updates that have improved aspects of the vehicle way outside of infotainment.”

Polestar’s move to electrification is matched by the increasing advancement of current battery technology, which Ingenlath believes still has some room to move.

“There’s much more progress expected on the side of the battery technology that is already in the cars today. There’s already great progress in each and every year – that is what we grab and make for our customers, that this advancement is happening in our products,” he said.

Asked about the development of solid state batteries, the global boss said: “At the end of the day, I don’t think you would get a serious commitment from anybody that it would happen in the first half of this decade.”

Polestar will permanently walk away from plug-in hybrid powertrains once it ceases manufacturing of the Polestar 1 coupe, Ingenlath said.

The final assembly of the limited-edition Polestar 1 will formally finish this week, turning purely electric thereafter.

“We go full electric with each and every car we come out with now,” Ingenlath said.

“The Polestar 1 was an exotic car that we came out with … The hybrid system in it helps you to understand how great an electric car is, it served its purpose in that way.

“It was always clear there would be a three-year production run of about 500 cars.”

Polestar confirmed in April that it would end Polestar 1 production later this year with a final run of 25 limited-edition models.

Launched back in 2019, the Polestar 1 was the Sino-Swedish brand's first standalone model and was never offered in Australia.