Classic pearl of the future - Polestar 1
02/17/2021
No, the Polestar 1 is not a Volvo, but almost. Volvo and Geely decided in 2017 to sell their hybrid coupé under the new Polestar brand. However, the Polestar 1 started life as a Volvo, more precisely as the Volvo Concept Coupé in 2013.
This concept car was drawn by the German designer Thomas Ingeniath.
In 2017, the Polestar 1 was presented at the Shanghai Auto Show in October. The elegant coupé with a four-cylinder petrol turbo engine and two electric motors, which together delivered over 600 hp and more than 1000 Nm of torque, went on sale in 2019. All wheels were driven, the front wheels by the petrol engine and the rear wheels by the electric motors. Together with a 34-kWh battery pack, this resulted in very sporty driving performance and a purely electric range of over 100 km (WLTP: 125 km) despite the vehicle weighing almost 2.4 tons. In any case, Polestar claimed that there was no hybrid passenger car that could go further electrically.
A limited number of 1500 units were announced at the time of the announcement and on February 11, 2021, Polestar announced that the last vehicles would now be produced. The all-electric Poleastar 2 has been available since 2019, with the first units delivered in 2020. However, the Polestar 2 is more of an SUV coupé.
With a new price of EUR 155,000, there was never any danger of the Polestar 1 becoming a mass vehicle, but many people are unlikely to have ever seen one - despite the fact that production is now coming to an end and (at most) 1500 units will be built.
The elegant coupé, which certainly has everyday qualities, therefore remains an exotic car and is likely to be one of the few cars from the hybrid generation to achieve classic status.
More pictures can be found in the Zwischengas picture archive.
P.S. It is to be hoped that Polestar will endeavor to ensure long-term parts and service availability for its first model ...
