Polestar offers first glimpse of new car to be built at SC Volvo plant
- By David Wren dwren@postandcourier.com
- Jun 7, 2022
Polestar, the high-performance sibling to Volvo Cars, is providing the first look at its new all-electric sport-utility vehicle that will be built starting this fall at Volvo’s manufacturing campus in South Carolina.
The Polestar 3, the company’s first SUV, will make its debut in October, giving the automaker an entry into the fastest-growing and highest-margin segment of the U.S. automotive industry.
A single photograph showing a side view of the car was included in an announcement that Polestar issued on June 7. Previous images of the car have been camouflaged so specific details couldn’t be seen.
It will be available to consumers starting in 2023.
“Polestar 3 is the SUV for the electric age,” Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s CEO, said in a written statement. “Our design identity evolves with this high-end large luxury EV, with a strong, individual brand character. With this car, we bring the ‘sport’ back to the SUV, staying true to our performance roots.”
The Polestar 3 will feature a dual motor drivetrain and a large battery with a fully charged range of 372 miles. It eventually will offer autonomous highway driving powered by a centralized computer and sensors that use millions of pulsed laser lights to detect objects. The vehicle, which also will be built in China for that market, is expected to compete for buyers with the Porsche Cayenne.
Ingenlath called the Polestar 3 “a major milestone for our company, one that boosts our growth trajectory and takes us into our next phase.”
The photo released Tuesday “shows a sleek, four-passenger SUV with a panoramic sunroof that stretches from windshield to rear spoiler and a bold taillight design,” according to a report on the TechCrunch website.
Polestar, which is headquartered in Sweden, got its start in 2017 as a stand-alone premium brand founded by Volvo and Volvo’s parent, Geely Holding Group of China.
The startup plans to go public this summer through a merger with holding company Gores Guggenheim Inc. that’s expected to raise $20 billion, giving Polestar the financial backing for its goal of selling in 30 markets by 2023. The company also hopes to boost sales to 290,000 vehicles by 2025 — 10 times the number sold last year.
Polestar has produced two vehicles to date — the discontinued Polestar 1 and Polestar 2, the automaker’s first fully-electric sedan. It has plans to build a smaller SUV coupe dubbed Polestar 4 at some point in the coming year.
Volvo, which builds the S60 sedan at its $1.2 billion plant off Interstate 26 near Ridgeville in Berkeley County, will add production this fall of a successor to the popular XC90 SUV. That all-electric car, which will reportedly be called Embla, will be a roomer and more aerodynamic version of the best-selling sport-utility vehicle with a large battery placed beneath a flat floor to provide more interior space.
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