Polestar began as a racing team specializing in Volvos before being taken in by Volvo itself. It then became the automaker’s in-house performance subbrand and ended up as the independent EV maker it is today. Once again, Polestar is entering new territory: building a new car on a bespoke platform it developed entirely on its own.
A lot like how the SLS AMG was Mercedes-AMG’s very first bespoke vehicle back in the day, the upcoming Polestar 5 electric sedan will be Polestar’s first-ever car to not use a Volvo-borrowed platform.
Set to take a form based on that of the extremely cool-looking Precept concept car, the Polestar 5’s bespoke platform will be made of bonded aluminum. It’s said to have been developed in-house by more than 280 Polestar engineers at the company’s R&D facility in Coventry, England. Polestar claims the team consists of engineers who previously worked on “Formula One race cars, low-volume vehicles, and sports cars.”
With that sort of pedigree, naturally, Polestar says the 5 will boast segment-leading handling, rigidity, and safety thanks to this new in-house chassis. Torsional rigidity is supposedly higher than a “traditional two-seat sports- or supercar” while the weight is apparently lower than that of smaller cars, contributing to both better road-holding and efficiency. What’s more, a new manufacturing process lets the company build the Polestar 5’s platform and body simultaneously, cutting down on the time it takes to get a car on the road.
Not only does this in-house platform enable the automaker to build the Polestar 5 quicker and have the car be stiffer and lighter, but it has also allowed the upcoming production EV to stick close to the Precept concept when it comes to aesthetics. Not a bad thing, given how good the Precept looks.
While the existing plug-in hybrid Polestar 1 is a two-door grand tourer and the Polestar 2 BEV is a Tesla Model 3-rivaling compact sedan, the 5 will be the brand’s first entry into the key flagship electric four-door GT segment. Right now, that’s comprised of heavy hitters like the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan, and Lucid Air. If the production Polestar 5 really does end up closely resembling the Precept in terms of looks, I think it’ll be an easy frontrunner in the class as far as styling is concerned. Hopefully, its performance, range, and usability will follow suit.
The competition is both fierce and numerous, which likely explains why Polestar has plans to expand the aforementioned engineering team to 500 members within the next few months. While the Polestar 5 sedan is set to debut for the 2024 model year, the South Carolina-built Polestar 3 crossover is going to launch sometime this year.
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