Like Tesla, Polestar is committed to fully electric battery-powered cars…apart from this first one. This is a hybrid, combining a 215bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine driving the front wheels with twin electric motors at the back. Polestar says combined output is 592bhp with 737b ft of torque, so performance – no figures thus far – should not be lacking, especially since there is a clever new torque vectoring system at the back to keep everything in line. In the battery-powered mode, the car can cover up to 93 miles which Polestar says is the longest full electric range of any hybrid car on the market.
With its sexy looks and promise of stonking performance Polestar 1 will act as a hero model for the all-electric Polestars to come. Polestar – which began as a race team before hotting-up Volvo V60s – is adamant its first model will be a true driver’s car, with star billing going to a new system of Öhlins continuously controlled electronic dampers. Braking is courtesy of Akebono six-piston callipers while weight distribution comes in at of 48:52 front: rear.
The firm says it will make a maximum of 500 Polestar 1s a year, available to order now but for delivery from mid-2019, soon after the new plant in Chengdu, China, being built with Volvo parent Geely, is completed.
With such a spec, and that carbon body, the number 1s (couldn’t they have thought of a better name?) are sure to be premium priced, much more so than the bigger volume, more mainstream Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 models that are due to follow it from 2019. And the price of the first Polestar is? That’s another thing we do not yet know, but Polestar says the cars will only be available via a subscription service.