Polestar 2 Coming in 2019 to Battle Tesla’s Model 3

Speaking to Autocar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (great name!) last week, Polestar Chief Operating Officer and Volvo veteran Jonathan Goodman revealed some details about Polestar’s sophomore effort, the Polestar 2.

Polestar 2 details we’re fairly certain of

• The Polestar 2 will be an electric (EV) four-door sedan
• 350 mile range, probably on the top-end Polestar 2 trim
• It will take on the exploding (no pun intended) middle ground of the EV market which is anchored by the Tesla Model 3; see chart below
• It will slot in starting at around $40k
• It will be followed by an SUV, presumably named Polestar 3
• It will debut sometime in 2019
• It will share Volvo’s CMA platform with the XC40

Notably, Polestar is rolling out its line slightly differently than Tesla.

Tesla: flagship coupe -> SUV -> everyday 4-door sedan
Polestar: flagship coupe (Polestar 1) -> everyday 4-door sedan -> SUV

Polestar 2 Design

Also of note is Goodman’s and presumably Polestar’s design ethic, which is best summarized by saying they’re not going far out on a design limb.

The global electric car market was worth four million units in 2017,” explained Goodman, “but it’s quite widely expected to be worth 29m units by 2025. EV owners will come from all walks of life. So it’s a mistake to assume that, because the cars are electric, you have to make them quirky or futuristic.

… Goodman said, going on to say,

If we’re looking at a market worth 30 million cars within seven years, it isn’t going to be niche, it’s going to be mainstream. So you just design a great-looking car—not one with a big blue flash down the side.

Also interesting to us at MVS is that Polestar chose the CMA platform rather than the larger SPA platform. That decision begs the question: will Polestar’s fourth offering be an executive EV sedan? 

We’ll continue to follow and report the latest Polestar news. 

Last Updated on August 19, 2020