Polestar, Volvo’s all-electric vehicle spinoff, has signed up its first U.S. dealers and plans to open the new “Polestar Spaces” during the second half of this year with two new models, the plug-in hybrid Polestar 1 and all-electric Polestar 2.
Polestar is one of an assortment of ground-up battery-car brands hoping to crack into the traditionally closed U.S. market, a group that also includes Lucid, Faraday Future and Rivian, among others.
“We have been able to partner with retailers that that embrace Polestar’s innovative retail and service models. This will of course be a major benefit to our customers,” Gregor Hembrough, head of Polestar USA, said in a news release. “With more than 80% of Polestar 2 reservation holders residing within a 150-mile range of the Spaces scheduled to open by mid-2021, customers will be well supported throughout their relationship with Polestar.”
(Polestar finally provides a Precept deep dive.)
Like Tesla, the Swedish EV start-up is hoping that it can crack into the U.S. market with a line-up of distinctive battery-cars:
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One of the first Polesar 2 battery-electric hatchbacks rolls off the assembly line. The Polestar 1 isn’t entirely new from the ground up. It starts out with a shortened version of the Volvo V90 platform motivated by a drivetrain similar to Volvo’s T8 Twin-Engine pairing a turbo- and supercharged four-cylinder 2.0-liter gas engine with two motors mounted on the rear axle;
- Polestar 2 is a five-door hatchback powered by a pair of electric motors, one on each axle, producing a total of 408 horsepower, with 0 to 60 times promised at “less than 5 seconds.”
Where Tesla has opted to set up a factory-owned dealer network, Polestar is partnering with several U.S. powerhouses, including Manhattan Motorcars, Galpin Motors and Price-Simms Automotive Group for its initial Polestar Space showrooms in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco – two “Spaces” on tap for the Bay Area. The automaker says it will next target Boston, Denver, Texas, Washington D.C. and Florida regions.
(First Look: Polestar 2 goes all electric.)
While Polestar plans to have brick-and-mortar showrooms, it intends to put an emphasis on online sales, a shift that is expected to rapidly sweep through the rest of the auto industry due to the coronavirus pandemic. A number of states still require some in-person contact, however, if for nothing more than to get customers to sign physical paperwork.
But Polestar will offer home delivery and service, meaning most customers will seldom, if ever, have to actually see a showroom or service shop.
“Polestar customers living within 150 miles of a Polestar Space can have their new car delivered to their door and picked up for future servicing,” the automaker said, adding that, “For customers living beyond the 150-mile delivery radius, their nearest Polestar Space will work to provide the most convenient solution for their needs.”
(Volvo aiming for half its sales to be all electric by 2025.)
It remains to be seen how well Polestar will fare in the immediate future. Many industry analysts had forecast 2020 would see a marked surge in interest in battery-based vehicles, in part due to the flood of new offerings coming to market this year. But the pandemic has thrown everything up into the air, in part due to the huge slump in gasoline prices, but also due to the slump in overall vehicle sales.
Why not just sell them from existing Volvo dealerships?
Same reason BMW doesn’t sell Minis in the same showroom, and why Genesis split from Hyundai. It is being positioned as a separate brand. There also are franchise agreement differences that, by going this route, allow Polestar to do things very differently from the way things are handled by Volvo.
Paul E.
So at least until mid 2021, you’ll only be able to get the vehicle serviced in New York City, LA or San Francisco? What happened to using Volvo dealers for service?
Who would buy a $60k car that can’t be serviced in 98% of the country?
Between the 27% US tariffs causing an inflated price, and not living in a launch city, I’ll be cancelling my pre order for the Polestar 2. I live 115 miles from the closest “space”, but that means Polestar will have to flatbed my car not only to deliver it, but for every instance that the car needs maintenance or service. I can’t imagine the hassle involved if my car has a problem, a squeak, rattle, broken door handle, etc…they would have to come to my house, flatbed the car, drive it 115 miles to a service space, then 115 miles back. Customer Service confirmed to me this is how it would work, at least until there was a Space in my city, which they couldn’t guarantee. And they were very cagey on whether or not I would get a loaner car each time. With this being my only car, this whole setup is unacceptable. Combine all of that with the fact that the launch price in Canada is $49,775 US equivalent, means you’d be paying way more in the US for a 1st Gen car that will have a unique and unproven service model that simply isn’t sustainable. I can only imagine how frustrated customers will be if they had to deal with this every time for service, or were on a road trip and needed service but weren’t within 150 miles of one of the 3 launch cities. Polestar really botched the US launch. I was so excited for this car but just can’t justify it given these 2 current issues.