Polestar started out as a Volvo tuner and racing team, and the company’s need for speed isn’t going away despite a shift in focus to electric cars and plug-in hybrids. The all-electric Polestar 2 will be available with an optional Performance Pack that includes upgraded suspension and brakes, albeit without any power upgrades.
The Performance Pack includes four-piston Brembo front brake calipers, adjustable Öhlins dampers, and 20-inch wheels. While they don’t help performance, the package’s gold seatbelts and valve caps at least increase the Polestar 2’s bling factor. Gold is becoming Polestar’s calling card. The limited-edition Polestar Engineered version of the Volvo S60 also got gold seatbelts, as well as gold brake calipers.
“We spent a lot of time obsessing over the finest details of the Performance Pack chassis setup to find the car’s sweet spot,” Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s head of chassis development, said in a statement. Engineers searched for the “golden ride,” a perfect balance of handling prowess and ride comfort, Rydholm said.
Engineers didn’t touch the Polestar 2’s electric powertrain. The car has two electric motors, with one powering each axle for all-wheel drive. Together, the two motors produce 408 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque. That will get the 2 from zero to 62 mph in under five seconds, according to Polestar. A 78-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack provides a claimed range of 275 miles, although that’s likely based on the more lenient European testing cycle.
As the name suggests, the Polestar 2 will be the automaker’s second model, following the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe. The Polestar 2 rides on parent company Volvo’s CMA platform, which is also used by the Volvo XC40 crossover. While the XC40 is currently sold only with internal-combustion powertrains, it will soon get plug-in hybrid and all-electric powertrains as well.
In Europe, the Polestar 2 Performance Pack is priced at 6,000 euros, or about $6,600 at current exchange rates. Pricing for the United States will be released at a later date, but the Polestar 2 itself will start at $63,000 here. Production starts in 2020, with the first cars earmarked for European countries. Polestar plans to sell cars online in Europe, but not in North America. Customers on this side of the Atlantic may be able to get Polestar cars through a more upmarket version of the Care by Volvo subscription service, however.
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