Polestar 1 – pre-order for PHEV opens in 18 countries

Polestar has announced that its Polestar 1 – which was unveiled last October before making its first public showing in Geneva – is now available for pre-order in 18 countries around the world. Response ahead of the books being opened has been thoroughly encouraging, according to Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, with over 7,000 registrations of interest.

As expected, Europe forms the largest chunk of the opening cut, with Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Poland being the available markets for the car on the continent. The Polestar 1 will also go on sale in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and China.

The pre-order for the plug-in hybrid coupe will involve a fully-refundable 2,500 euro deposit, which serves as a placeholder for the car, and will also include a new car configuration tool that allows prospective buyers to visualise their Polestar 1 ahead of order placement. Production is expected to begin sometime in mid-2019.

The Polestar 1 is based on Volvo’s Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA) seen on the Swedish carmaker’s 90 Series models (XC90, S90 and V90), though substantial revisions for this application means that nearly 50% of the platform is new and bespoke.

The hybrid GT features a Volvo Drive-E 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine providing power to the front wheels and a 46 hp/150 Nm integrated starter generator (ISG) and two 109 hp electric motors – juiced by three battery packs totalling 34 kWh – pushing the rear wheels. Total output of the system is 600 hp and 1,000 Nm of torque, with up to 150 km of travel range on pure electric power alone.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.