Polestar will establish a new research and development facility at a factory in Trollhattan, Sweden, formerly operated by Saab.
Operations will be based out of a 15,000 square-feet building at the site and it will initially conduct powertrain development of the Polestar 5 and the Polestar 6. Additionally, the Swedish electric car manufacturer will test powertrains, electric motors, and batteries at the center. Polestar has stopped short of buying the plant and will rent it from the city of Trollhattan.
Confirmation of Polestar moving into the site comes just a month after National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), which had previously been operating out of the factory, closed its doors. The new research and development site joins ones already operated by Polestar in Gothenburg, Sweden and Coventry, England.
Read: The 2024 Polestar 4 Redefines Electric Coupe-SUVs
While it would be reasonable to assume that Polestar would also look to establish a production line at the site, that doesn’t appear to be the case. When asked by Auto News Europe if it intended to manufacture vehicles in Trollhattan, a Polestar spokesperson said the firm would continue to rely on its sister brands for production. Currently, the Polestar 2 is built at a Geely site in China while the Polestar 3 will be built in Chengdu, China and in South Carolina. Meanwhile, the recently-unveiled Polestar 4 will come to life at Geely’s site in Hangzhou Bay, China.
While the forthcoming Polestar 5 and Polestar 6 are shaping up as excellent EVs, it is the Polestar 4 that’s been grabbing the headlines since its unveiling last week. The vehicle blurs the lines between a sedan and an SUV and is underpinned by Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA). It has a 2,999 mm (118 inch) wheelbase and has been designed without a rear window of any kind, allowing for the fitment of a glass roof that extends behind the heads of rear occupants.
