Volvo and its owner Geely Holding are investing 640 million euros ($750 million) into Polestar to support the first stages of its development.
The now standalone brand will launch its first product, the Polestar 1, into the market in mid-2019 but the big news is that it will be closely followed by a compact EV named Polestar 2 in the same year.
The Polestar 2 will be the first electric vehicle to come out of the Volvo Car Group, paving the way to a total of five fully electric models to come out of Polestar and Volvo between 2019 and 2021.
The investment will be mostly used in establishing a Polestar manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China, radically shortening the time Polestar needs to launch a new model into the market among other things.
Polestar will also benefit as expect from synergies with Volvo in the development of next-generation technologies. The Polestar 1 is the perfect example of this collaboration, with around half of the components coming from Volvo, including the SPA architecture, and the rest being entirely new and bespoke technology created by Polestar engineers.
Polestar also announced its plan to launch a mid-sized all-electric SUV named the Polestar 3 after the Polestar 2, completing this way the first phase of the company’s product roll out.
Perhaps the most interesting part of Polestar’s launch as a standalone brand is that you’ll not be able to outright buy one of their models, at least for now, as the company hasn’t announced yet any other official purchasing options apart from a subscription service that lasts two or three years, depending on your choice. The service will have no deposit and will included delivery, maintenance, insurance and the option of using other Polestar or Volvo models for a flat monthly fee.
Ordering and configuring your new Polestar will be dealt online but the company will also open a network of so-called “Polestar Spaces” around the world, which will be standalone facilities and not within the existing Volvo showrooms.
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