The Tesla Model 3, yeah, it's a decent car,
and they've sold a few... hundred thousand of them,
but frankly, it's had things its own way for far too long.
What we need is another all-electric mass-market Saloon
capable of over 300 miles on a charge with properly punchy performance,
which is where this, the Polestar 2, fits in.
Time for a quick recap: Polestar's roots are in touring car racing,
stretching as far back as the late '90s,
but since 2009, it's been producing tweaked versions of Volvo's road cars,
and in 2015, was bought entirely by Volvo
to be launched as a standalone electric performance brand,
the fruits of which we're seeing here today.
Let's start with the facts, shall we?
This is an electric four-wheel-drive five-door fastback,
according to Polestar.
It has a range of 311 miles from its 78-kilowatt-hour battery pack,
produces 402 horsepower and will do nought to 60 in under five seconds.
Now compare that to the Tesla Model 3 all-wheel drive long-range version.
That's not the more powerful version, by the way anyway.
That has a WL TP certified range of 338 miles
from its 74-kilowatt-hour battery pack,
pack produces 341 brake horsepower
and will do nought to 60 in 5.1 seconds.
It looks like someone's been studying Tesla's spec sheets,
because those numbers are virtually identical, as is the price.
Both cost around 60,000 euros,
although Polestar, like Tesla, claims
a cheaper 40,000 euro model will follow a year later.
What will have to sway customers tossing up between a Tesla and this
is this is the design.
The clever Dicks out there will have spotted
that this thing is basically an evolution
of the Volvo 40.2 concept we saw way back in 2016
but with a couple of choice changes.
The first is this: the full-width light bar at the back,
and the second is it's now got wing mirrors,
but not any old wing mirrors.
These are patented frameless wing mirrors
that are smaller and more aerodynamically efficient.
The front end, there's definitely a Peugeot 508 quality to it,
which isn't necessarily a bad thing,
and you've also noticed it's got a bit of a raised stance.
Bear with me. This makes more sense than you think.
If you want to maintain a car's ground clearance
and maintain its interior space
but then also put a massive slab of batteries under the floor,
well, this is just what you end up with.
They're not pandering to SUV fashion here.
It's just logic.
And Polestar hasn't forgotten its racing roots either.
An optional performance pack adds Ohlins dampers
that can be manually adjusted, Brembo brakes and 20-inch forged wheels.
It also adds gold valve caps and gold seatbelts
to let your friends know you've got the fast one.
Inside it really is genuinely different to current Volvos,
and it's dominated by this 11-inch portrait tablet
in the middle of the dash here.
Volvo, by the way, makes do with nine inches,
although Tesla is way out in front with its 15-inch whopper.
Moving on, the really exciting thing is
this is the first car to run entirely on Google's Android operating system.
What does that mean? Well, it means you've got Google Maps for sat-nav.
You can use Google's voice assistant.
It's always connected to the internet,
so you can do Tesla over-the-air updates.
In terms of the layout: It's super simple.
This is a dummy screen,
but you can see here it split into four quarters, four tiles,
which means you've got a good chance of prodding what you want
while you're driving along.
The digital instrument cluster, again, it's stripped back. It's minimalist.
It only gives you what you want, which is speed and battery charge.
And that's it.
Now this is designed to be an affordable car.
It's made out of steel, not fancy carbon fibre,
but there's plenty of clever design touches here
in the interior.
The centre console up there appears to be floating slightly
and is illuminated underneath,
and up there, you've got an illuminated Polestar logo
that projects onto this big panoramic roof up here.
Oh, get this my plant-based friends,
this interior is entirely 100 per cent vegan.
No animal products were used in its making.
You can have the option of leather, of course, if you have a heart of stone.
Other cool features include the fact that you can use your phone as a key,
so as long as it's in your pocket, you're in and you're away,
and as you'll notice here,
actual adult humans can fit in the back here. Yeah, that's the future.
So, that's the 2. You can order one now with production starting in early 2020.
The 3, a Tesla Model X rivaling electric SUV, will follow in 2021,
but that's right maths fans, there's also a Polestar 1.
A Super GT rival to the BMW 8 series and Aston DB 11,
which isn't all electric. It's a plug-in hybrid.
Unlike most plug-in hybrids where you get an electric range of about 30 miles,
with this, you get 100 miles
before you trouble the four-cyclinder petrol engine under the bonnet.
Fire that up and you get almost 600 horsepower in total,
half of which comes from that supercharged and turbocharged engine
that drives the front wheels.
The rest comes from two electric motors on the rear axle
and a third on the crank.
Nought to sixty-two takes less than four seconds,
so it's quick, properly quick,
and it's light too. Well, lighter than you might think,
because the chassis is reinforced with carbon fibre,
and all the panels are carbon fibre, too.
It weighs about 200 kilograms less
than it would if it was made from the same stuff as the Volvo S90.
It uses a cut-down version of the S90's SPA platform
with 320 millimetres lopped off the wheelbase
and another 200 millimetres from the rear overhang.
The keen of Volvoites out there will also spot
it's pretty much an exact replica of the Volvo concept coupe from 2013.
To be honest though, I'm not that worried about numbers
or who's been plundering the Volvo concept car archives,
because...well, just look at it.
I worry a little bit
that people might struggle with the Polestar 2 semi SUV stance,
but this thing it, just looks undeniably beautiful
from any angle -
except perhaps if you're looking at the price list.
Only around 1,500 of these will be built over three years
with 600 of those sold already,
costing 155,000 euros each,
which is, let's be honest, a fair whack more than a BMW M5
which has similar performance.
Polestar doesn't necessarily want a big sweaty gym bag full of your cash.
It's going to exclusively sell Polestars online
and with the offer of a subscription star model,
so a one-off monthly payment that covers absolutely everything
apart from your fuel and charging.
A bit like a mobile phone then, just a really big one with wheels.
Hats off to Polestar, though.
It's realised the electric revolution isn't just about electric cars.
It's about changing the way we buy and own them, too.