Polestar refuses to waste any time. The Swedish-based, Chinese-owned carmaker only became a standalone brand a few years ago and is currently planning an initial public offering (IPO). It aims to sell 290,000 vehicles annually by 2025. That's an astonishing figure considering it only began selling cars, specifically the ultra-limited edition Polestar 1, in 2018. Equally impressive is the brand Polestar has identified as its future primary target: Porsche.
Speaking to Green Car Reports, Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar Americas, confirmed the brand "wants to be a Porsche competitor, in design, performance, and innovation." That's easier said than done of course, but Polestar is definitely on the right path developing its own electric motors in-house.
The new motor, internally called P10, will reportedly be around 1.5 times more powerful than the motors used in the Porsche Taycan. Polestar is aiming for a 475-kW output or just over 600 horsepower. It'll be very compact, measuring about 14 x 19.5 x 25 inches, and will be paired to a two-speed gearbox. Polestar does not appear to be in a sharing mood. It plans to keep the new tech entirely for its own use and not share it with Volvo and Lotus. All three brands share a parent company, Geely Automobile Holdings.
What is being co-developed with Volvo and Lotus is a new battery pack with an 800-volt architecture and 400v fast-charging capability. An 80 percent charge in less than 20 minutes is the goal. Polestar is also prepping an all-new platform specifically for the 2024 Polestar 5, a direct Taycan rival.
This platform will also be exclusive to Polestar. Orders for the Cayenne-rivalling Polestar 3, which will be revealed early next year, should begin this summer. The 2023 Polestar 4 will compete against the also upcoming Macan EV.
Going up against an established carmaker like Porsche is not easy, but the playing field has been somewhat leveled because of electrification. Every automaker, to some extent, is starting from scratch developin things like electric motors, battery packs, platforms, and other related systems. Polestar's advantage over Porsche is that it doesn't have any legacies to honor. It's completely free to make its own rules.