Originally part of a European touring car racing team, Polestar subsequently became an aftermarket tuner of high-performance Swedish cars. This independent tuner was eventually purchased by Volvo in 2015 and brought in house to develop enthusiast-oriented "Polestar Engineered" variants of Volvo models. However, it wasn't long before Polestar was spun off as an upscale standalone electric car company. Polestar's initial offering, the Polestar 1, was actually a plug-in hybrid, but all subsequent models including today's Polestar 2 hatchback are pure battery-electric vehicles.
Polestar's upcoming third vehicle will be manufactured in both the US and China.
One of our favorite midpriced EVs is getting even better.
Aside from the usual visual updates, Polestar tweaked the 2's heat pump and is using blockchain technology to help reduce its carbon footprint.
The vehicles will enter Hertz's European fleet this spring, with North America and Australia to follow.
The O2 is based on the new aluminum platform that will be used by the Polestar 5 sedan, which hopefully means it could make production.
We've driven the Polestar 2 plenty, but haven't had time to head out when the temperatures are low and the roads are covered in snow and salt. It was high time to change that.
Bonded aluminum construction is no longer solely the province of the expensive or exotic, thanks to new tech from Polestar.