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Polestardebuted its first
production EV and previewed its electric car line in New York with the CEO squarely taking aim at Tesla.
The Volvo subsidiary pulled the
cover off its Polestar 1, which it positioned less as a hybrid and more as a fully electric (gas optional) car to attract fence sitters to
EVs.
The $155,000 auto—that will hit streets in 2019—has 3 electrical motors powered by twin 34kWh battery packs and a turbo and
supercharged gas V4 up front (more detailshere).
All electric range is up to 100 miles—which the company claims gives the Polestar 1 the
longest all electric range of any production hybrid.
Polestar drivetrain
The Polestar 1 brings 600 horsepower and 738 ft-lbs of torque
It is the first in a series, with an all electric Polestar 2 to debut in 2019 and a Polestar 3 SUV after that.
Polestar 2 will be a direct
competitor to the Tesla Model 3…& CEO Thomas Ingenlath said on the launch stage.
He told TechCrunch the company will focus more on
creating converts to EVs than pulling away Tesla existing market share.
Thomas Ingenlath, chief executive officer, Polestar
One advantage
Ingenlath described was using Polestar 1 as a gateway car for getting laggards to go all electric
&There are many people out there who still think a car has to have a combustion engine,& he said
&Polestar 1 is an extremely good vehicle to get people across that line and once they drive it…understand what an amazing experience an
electric car is.
Polestar converts shouldn''t get too attached to that gasoline/voltage combo, however.
Polestar 1 will be the company first
and last electric and gas vehicle, according to Ingenlath
We will not do a hybrid car again,& he told TechCrunch.
At their New York Polestar 1 debut, the company devoted about as much time to the
Polestar sales and service experience as the actual car
It will be multi-channel—from app to physical—leveraging parts of Volvo dealer network for certain things and staying completely
For one, Polestar will not have dealers or use Volvo dealers to showcase their cars, according to Ingenlath.
The buyer experience will start
on the company app, then move into what it refers to as a network of &Polestar Spaces& across the United States , Europe, and China where
buyers can view and test cars
Purchased cars can be delivered to one home and service coordinated by app and home pickup—though Polestar will use Volvo dealers (not
their spaces) on the service end.
We will become a company that produces around a 100,000 cars a year and this will definitely scale-up,&
said Ingenlath.&We&ll never become a Volvo, but we certainly need a certain scale to come in to a profitable range.
The company
oversubscribed orders for the Polestar 1 with 200 cars coming to North American buyers.
While Polestar HQ is in Gothenburg, Sweden, it will
manufacture cars at a plant inChengdu China.
The company EV debut comes as Tesla&s$49,000 to $64,000Model 3 earned theNHTSA top safety
ratingand Audi introduced it $74,800 all electric e-tron SUV (covered here atTechCrunch)
In the United States market Tesla still
dominates plugin sales by make and model and its Model 3 is expected to boost that lead, according toEV Volumes.
