This past week I was introduced to the future of electric luxury sports cars at the Polestar 6 concept car event.
Polestar is a Swedish electric car company that you may or may not have heard of just yet. Owned by Volvo, Polestar is making waves with its more sustainable and progressive designs and outlook, so you’re likely to hear a lot more about the brand over the coming years.
Polestar 6 concept car
Currently in Australia the only Polestar car you may see driving around the streets is the Polestar 2, which went on sale earlier this year with a price starting at $59,900. It’s effectively a Tesla Model 3 competitor. However, as I walked into Polestar’s event space, it was clear their latest model is in a completely different tier of pricing. I mean, this new car is a roadster after all.
The car I came to see started as a concept car called the Polestar O2 but it’s now been confirmed that it closely represents the production model of the Polestar 6, which will be launching in a few years. I should probably mention that it will cost around $300,000. OK, so that bursts all our bubbles. But let’s just take a moment to admire this marvellous machine.
The car has a breathtaking minimalist design, showcasing camera side mirrors instead of traditional mirrors, a large touchscreen display, unique seats (four in total), and hidden sensors and cameras front and back. I absolutely love the clean lines of the outside rear lights and the wheels look insanely awesome. And even though this car is so pricey, it’s great to hear that they’re putting a lot of thought and cost into sustainability.
Sustainable materials
I’ve seen and tested a fair few electric cars at this stage and, interestingly, Polestar’s ethos really stood out. Polestar is aware that an electric vehicle is not innately more sustainable or ethical than a regular internal combustion engine car.
Although that being said, I was told that in Polestar’s recent life cycle assessment report they found that the impact of an electric car is less than half that of a petrol or diesel car when it’s charged by renewable energy.
It’s exciting to discover that an electric car has the ability to become climate neutral, as opposed to a combustion engine car. So, their overall goal is to accelerate change in the EV industry towards creating sustainable electric vehicles, by putting pressure on other car companies to join them in this direction.
It was also great to hear that not only are they wanting to use responsibly sourced materials, but they are implementing features so that their cars are easier to repair, with their parts easier to replace (including their batteries) and recycle.
What’s next?
This was my first close encounter with the brand and Polestar is now definitely a company I will be keeping my eye on.
Personally, I would love to see them come up with a car that can compete with brands such as MG and BYD who are moving towards launching electric vehicles in the $35,000 range.
Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawesometech | YouTube