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The first new sports car from Volvo's electric-car spin-off in nearly a decade has hit the slow lane in favour of higher-volume cars.
Electric Cars
Polestar has delayed its fastest and likely most expensive car yet – the Polestar 6 roadster – to clear the path for a more affordable Polestar 7 SUV that is planned to be its first car not made in China.
The Volvo and Geely-affiliated electric-car brand's nomenclature sees each new model named sequentially, with its first car – the Polestar 1 coupe – followed by the Polestar 2, Polestar 3, and so on.
But the delay means the Polestar 7 will arrive in showrooms in 2027, before the Polestar 6 sometime later – but after the Polestar 5 due in 2025.
Polestar Australia boss Scott Maynard told Drive "for now, all of the effort through engineering is to bring 7 to market as quickly as possible."
"Polestar 6 will now arrive in Australia after Polestar 7," he said, "so given that the anticipated time for pull to market for 7 will be beyond the original timeframe we had for Polestar 6, Polestar 6 will step out and sit behind Polestar 7."
A new launch date for Polestar 6 is yet to be confirmed, but confirmation it will follow the Polestar 7 due in 2027 could suggest an arrival later the same year, or in 2028 – the latter of which would represent a two-year delay.
The Polestar 6 is based on the new UK-developed, Lotus-esque bonded aluminium architecture of the Polestar 5 sedan – a Porsche Taycan rival – with an 800-volt electrical system capable of ultra-fast charging.
It will be powered by dual electric motors – one front, one rear – which in the sedan are planned to develop 650kW and 900Nm.
Polestar has quoted a 3.2-second 0-100km/h time for its new roadster, plus a 250km/h top speed, and more than 600km of estimated driving range.
It will come at a cost, with the 'LA Concept' launch edition announced in 2022 to start from about $US200,000 ($AU320,000 today) – likely becoming the brand's dearest new car.
In contrast, the Polestar 7 will be a new small- to mid-size SUV intended to be smaller – and likely cheaper – than the Polestar 4, which is priced from $78,500 before on-road costs.
"[Polestar] 7's an important car for us – it will access a greater volume of people and provide a greater exposure to the Polestar brand," Maynard said.
"We've got a really, really strong sports car offering in Polestar 5. That car is on track to be delivered into Australia late this year and that will give us a fabulous halo product in the sports segment.
"Then we can bring Polestar 7, which makes perfect sense, and then the Polestar 6 can sit in just after that."
The Chinese-owned Swedish brand has not announced how big the Polestar 7 will be beyond that it will be a "a bit more compact" than the Polestar 4, Maynard said, a car which measures 4840mm long.
A Tesla Model Y is considered to be a mid-size SUV, measuring about 4750mm long, while traditional 'small SUVs' – as classified in Australia – are closer to the 4.2 to 4.5-metre-long range.
It will be built in Europe, the first Polestar not made in China – as the 1 and 2 were both exclusively produced there, the 3 is built in China and the US, and the 4 is made in China or, soon, South Korea.
"There's currently no plans to build 7 in China and so our current direction is to take the car from Europe, which is fine. I'm very happy to do that," Maynard told Drive.
"For 3 and 4, China still makes sense for us. Logistically, it's nice and close.
"The car is still true to its Swedish design, so we're enjoying great quality of manufacture out of there and so it makes sense us to pull that car from the China facility rather than get it all the way from the US.
"But as you say, the brand now has options, and if at any point in the future there's changes to the direction in policy or tariffs, the brand now has the flexibility to be able to move its manufacturing platform around and draw from the most advantageous spot that we can possibly grab."
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
