With a carbon fibre body, a track-tuned suspension and 600-horsepower, the 2020 Polestar 1 is a technology packed Grand Tourer plug-in hybrid.Andrew McCredie GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Uncompromising. That, in a word, describes the 2020 Polestar 1. Postmedia was granted an exclusive sneak preview of the 2+2 PHEV last week, months before the official First Drive event for the world’s automotive press, and what we learned is that in terms of horsepower, all-electric range, performance, technology and overall design, the Polestar 1 is as much about revelation as it is revolution. I attended the reveal of the Polestar 1 last September in New York City, and while I was impressed with the spec sheet figures—600 horsepower, a 150-km all-electric range, carbon fibre body, track-tuned suspension—I have to admit I came away more puzzled than pumped. Why was Polestar parent company Volvo creating this new automaker when this vehicle would fit ideally into its re-energized model lineup? (After all, the Polestar 1 is based on the 2013 Volvo Concept Coupe, and its spiritual predecessor is the iconic Volvo P1800.) Why would a new automaker dedicated to the electric vehicle revolution produce a plug-in hybrid as its debut model? And why, oh why, produce just 500 of these debut vehicles per year with a retail price touching $200,000? After spending a couple of hours behind the wheel of a pre-production Polestar 1 driving in and around Gothenburg, followed by some hot laps at Volvo’s Hällered Proving Ground, I was reminded (yet again) why I’m a journalist and not an automotive exec. Simply put, driving is believing. My first inkling of that ill-informed rush to judgment was about 80 kilometres into the drive that had taken us—my navigator was a Polestar engineer—along a mix of urban, highway and country roads. Despite hitting 140 km/h on some of the high-speed highway runs, and accelerating hard on sections of deserted country roads, the gasoline engine had yet to fire. My driving partner informed me that the threshold for it to do so is 160 km/h. In addition, there was still 60 kilometres of range left in the 34 kWh battery pack. That full-charge range of 150 km makes this vehicle tops in the PHEV category. So, in many respects the Polestar 1 plug-in is really an all-electric vehicle. In fact, it’s all-electric range is essentially the same as, and in some cases better than, most every first-generation EV that I’ve ever tested, from the Nissan Leaf to the Kia Soul to the BMW i3. That was the first revelation. As I was contemplating this, my driving companion suggested we switch the drive mode from all-electric to the sport setting, which brings to life the 326-horsepower 2.0-litre, turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder gasoline engine. It also brings into play the front wheels, which are driven by the gas engine. Power for the rear wheels is provided by two electric motors. Working in combination, the Polestar 1’s gas engine and electric motors produce 600 horsepower and 740 lbs.-ft of torque (for comparison’s sake, the most powerful production Volvo ever built is the 2017 XC90 T8 Polestar edition, with a somewhat pedestrian 421 hp). In sport mode and on a stretch of open highway, I hit the accelerator, followed quite quickly by revelation number two. The pre-programmed navigation system (incidentally, and notably, utilizing the very same excellent hardware and software of current generation Volvos) interrupted my momentary lapse of bliss, indicating the off-ramp for the Volvo test facility was approaching (and quickly at that). “Brake later than you would once we’re on the off-ramp and try to feel the torque vectoring,” my companion suggested. I did and was amazed at the ‘on rails’ sensation of the rear end as we whipped around the corner. Many automakers claim to have torque vectoring, but this is the real deal thanks to a clever rear-end set-up that incorporates planetary gearing into the electric motors. Revelation number four was upon me. The Hällered Proving Ground is a massive, multi-track complex, and has played an integral role in the Polestar 1 evolution. The electric powertrain was developed and enhanced in Volvo XC40 ‘mules’ on the ‘high-security’ track, while the chassis was tweaked and perfected over the course of thousands and thousands of demanding laps on the facility’s ‘real world’ track by Polestar chief test driver Joakim Rydholm. It was at the latter circuit that I came to fully appreciate that aforementioned torque vectoring, and it was during hot laps in the passenger seat of Rydholm’s much-travelled Polestar 1 prototype #004 that I came to fully appreciate the incredible performance attributes of this plug-in hybrid. That’s the same car that Rydholm drove at last year’s Goodwood Hill Climb event, and the one that he has tested in, among other locations, the high Arctic, the Arizona desert and the African sub-continent. I lost track of revelations at the track.
Origin: 2020 Polestar 1 eclipses expectations