The Polestar 1, the first real car from the electrified performance spinoff of Volvo, has just made its European and public debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. The all-new model made its media debut at a reveal in Shanghai late last year, so this is the first time those outside the media have had the chance to see this exciting new car in the flesh.
Polestar 1 is a four-seat plug-in hybrid performance GT coupe, which utilizes a pair of electric motors to drive the rear wheels for up to 90 miles, and a supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter petrol engine. The electric motors bring as much as 218 horsepower to the party, but when the 2.0-liter petrol engine is included the total system offers a fabulous 600 horsepower and 1000 Nm of all-wheel drive.
To be fair, this is a car that would probably sell on its looks alone, regardless of what's going on underneath its stunning bodywork. But the combination of its looks and that powertrain is likely to mean big success for the Polestar 1. Speaking of which, pre-orders for the Polestar 1 can be made from March 13, 2018 when potential customers will be asked to pay a fully-refundable deposit of €2,500. Pre-orders will offered to the six initial launch markets of China, the United States, Sweden, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. After that, a further 12 new markets will be opened up for pre-orders, which will be Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Finland, France, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Portugal and Canada.
Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar's Chief Executive Officer explains, "To date, we have received interest from over 6,000 potential customers wanting the Polestar 1 – a number which began gathering momentum from the moment the car was revealed. With our current plans to produce 500 cars per year, it's possible that we have exceeded our production potential in these early stages. This positive reception to Polestar 1 really encourages us that our ‘Pure, Progressive, Performance' brand proposition resonates very well with customers."
Sales of the Polestar 1 will be based on a new subscription model, which is where customers will subscribe to their Polestar car for either two or three years. The subscription is linked to a number of connected and on-demand benefits such as pick-up and delivery servicing, and is designed to take the hassle out of vehicle ownership experience with one monthly fee to include the likes of insurance and maintenance. What hasn't been widely publicized up to now is that customers will also be able to purchase the Polestar 1 outright if desired, so a subscription won't be the only way to run a Polestar 1 after all.
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