Polestar appears to be gearing up to further differentiate itself from its fellow Geely-owned brands.
Green Car Reports reports the Swedish-Chinese automaker is developing its own electric motors, batteries, and electrical architecture in-house as it plans to tackle Porsche head-on.
Reportedly codenamed P10, the Polestar electric motor is being developed in-house in Sweden and won’t be shared with any other Geely-owned brands like Volvo and Lotus.
Polestar 5
The electric motor will reportedly be compact, measuring in at 36cm by 50cm by 64cm, and is said to be around 50 per cent more powerful than the e-motor in the Porsche Taycan.
Polestar is reportedly targeting an output of 475kW of power for the electric motor and combining two of these together would create a theoretical total system output of 950kW.
Connecting to this electric motor will be a two-speed transmission, similar to that used by the Taycan.
The Taycan has a first gear intended for a quick launches and a second gear intended to reach the car’s top speed.
Polestar’s UK team is also reportedly developing a new battery pack in-house with an 800V electrical architecture, in partnership with Volvo and Lotus.
This is the same voltage as what the Taycan offers, as well as the Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 trio.
Mr Hembrough was tight-lipped about the battery type, supplier and peak charging rate, although he noted at 103kWh the battery pack could charge to 80 per cent in 20 minutes or less.
Polestar Precept concept
The electrical architecture will also reportedly feature bi-directional capability and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) charging at a rate of 20kW.
It’s been previously reported that Polestar has been looking into this charging technology for future models.
All of these components will reportedly feature in the upcoming 2024 Polestar 5 premium grand tourer, along with a new aluminium spaceframe architecture developed as a “clean-sheet platform”.
Mr Hembrough said this platform won’t be available to Lotus or Volvo, although he noted Lotus will likely assist with certain aspects such as suspension tuning.
Lotus EV range
Lotus currently has its own electric architecture rollout plan with the company planning to launch four electric vehicle (EV) models by 2026. This’ll include a four-door coupe, two SUVs and an all-electric sports car.
That means two brands in Geely’s stable – Lotus and Polestar – will both be targeting Porsche.
“Polestar wants to be Porsche competitor, in design, performance and innovation,” said Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar Americas, when talking to the publication.
“There’s no reason the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 will be talked about in the same sentence,” he added, suggesting future Polestar models will be quite different.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told Auto Motor und Sport in October 2021 it wanted the brand to be competing with Porsche within the next five years.
The upcoming Polestar 5 takes inspiration from the 2020 Precept concept, with the overall silhouette and design staying faithful to the concept.
There are notable changes though including the rear-hinged rear doors, more visible door handles, and wing mirrors instead of camera pods.
Set to be officially revealed in 2022, the Polestar 3 electric SUV will use the same ‘SPA2’ architecture as the next-generation Volvo XC90 and will serve as an electric rival for the Porsche Cayenne.
It’s unclear if this Polestar model will receive any of the P10 electric motor components or the two-speed gearbox.
Polestar 3 prototype
The sleek SUV is said to be an “electric performance SUV” and will be produced in Charleston, South Carolina.
The smaller Polestar 4 will be the brand’s alternative to the Porsche Macan.
Polestar is currently offering its Volvo XC40-derived Polestar 2 model locally with reservations now open and early demand high.
The automaker is also poised for an imminent Nasdaq SPAC IPO set to close by June 2022.
It says it plans to grow tenfold, from global sales of around 29,000 in 2021 to 290,000 by 2025.
The company plans to have a presence in 30 countries by the end of 2023.
MORE: Polestar 5: Liftback inspired by Precept concept confirmed
