Polestar reveals 440kw / 1000Nm hybrid coupe, Australia to miss out

Volvo’s performance sub-brand, Polestar, has revealed its first standalone model, but unfortunately Aussie customers will miss out.

The car, named simply Polestar 1, will be a hybrid coupe with serious performance figures.

The turbo- and supercharged internal combustion engine, combined with the electric assistance, is good for 440kW and 1000Nm. It will be the most powerful vehicle ever produced in China.

It will be good for 150km of all-electric range via two 80kW electric motors mounted at both axles. The electric motors allow performance enhancing torque vectoring.

However, the Polestar 1 will only be built in left-hand-drive format, ruling out any possibility of being sold in Australia.

Volvo Cars Australia chief Greg Bosnich said Australia would have to wait until the Polestar 2, an all-electric SUV arriving well after the coupe version, before they can purchase one in a showroom.

“It’s a shame the Polestar 1 won’t be made in right-hand drive,” he said.

The Polestar 1 will be built in China. It features a steel chassis with a carbon fibre cross brace between the rear axles, a traditional point of torsional weakness in all-steel sedans.

Around it will wrap a carbon fibre reinforced plastic skin. Using the strengthened plastic saves 230kg in weight - exactly the same as the three battery packs housed in the transmission tunnel and between the rear axles.

The new model will be no performance lightweight. It will feature Ohlins shock absorbers, and six-pot brake callipers forged out of a single block of aluminium, wrapped around 400mm slotted and vented discs up front.

Polestar won’t sell the Polestar 1. Instead, people will be invited to lease it for up to three years, with a single monthly fee covering all expenses apart from fuel. At the end of the lease, Polestar will take the vehicle back, and get it ready as a used vehicle for a second lease on life.

The Polestar will use a bespoke ‘grid’ grille, but it will be package-protected to accommodate a host of future technology that the car maker says will need to wait for another day.