Autocar has been driving the production version of the Polestar 1, the Geely/Volvo subsidiary's first customer car.
Created originally as the Volvo Concept Coupe and later brought to life as the £139,000 Polestar 1 when Polestar was spawned as a brand in its own right, the Chinese-built 1 will be followed by other Polestar models - imaginatively named 2 and so on.
But while they will be pure EVs, the 1 is a plug-in hybrid, and a bewilderingly complex one: it has a 2.0-litre engine in the front which is both turbocharged and supercharged, and which is augmented by an electric motor. Then there are two more electric motors at the rear, to provide a total power output of more than 600bhp.
Join Autocar's special correspondent James Disdale as we take to the road in the production Polestar 1 for the first time.
Read more
Join the debate
Add your comment
Finish
For a £140k car would not be happy with the finish of the stitching on the dash
They could sell many more than 500
The thing is, my impression is after reading the reviews - Polestar could actually have built 5000th. of these and probably sold them all, with more built the price might have been some distance lower -- however the thing is, it appears every bit as good as any other highly expensive 2 door gentleman's GT out there.
Has to be white as in 'white elephant'
Very clever undoubtedly, but the future? Really?
Well over 2 tonnes and dragging round a rather uninspiring 4 pot 2 litre supercharged and turbocharged engine as well as three electric motors. Plus a cramped rear and small boot.
Surely if you like this sort of excess, a Porshe Panamera S e-Hybrid saving about £50k is a better option.