Polestar 1: A Future Design Icon
The Polestar 1 is Polestar’s first in-house produced vehicle after years of tuning Volvos. A complex hybrid car with a striking design. But does it actually work in real life? Let’s find out.
Since it decided to be a car company of the future, Polestar has done quite a lot to earn some brand identity. The car that a lot of people know and the one we drove at the launch is the Polestar 2. The Polestar 2 is an all-electric car which sets the company’s aims to have 0 ecological impact in the future.
The only ICE car Polestar will ever build is the 1.
Sophisticated powertrain
The Polestar 1 is powered by an intricate combination of old school and the future. In the front, we have an internal combustion 2.0L 4-cilinder engine. To boost power to 326 hp, the engine is both turbo- and supercharged. And to top it off, the integrated starter generator is a hefty one providing 71 hp and 161 Nm’s of torque.
In the back, we have 2 116 hp electric motors hooked up to a 34 kWh battery split into 2 packs. It gives the Polestar 1 an all-electric range of around 120 km and with 50 kW DC charging, it fully charges to 80% in just over an hour. Especially when the battery is over half its capacity, the DC charging advantage starts to drop.
The combination results into a 619 hp and 1000 Nm 2-door coupé. 0-100 kmh is finished in just 3.8 seconds. So it’s definitely a fast car, the way it picks up speed is so fast yet it doesn’t really feel all that fast. But make no mistake, you’re easily pushing yourself into “losing-your-license” territories. The 4 cilinder does sound quite nice but it’s lacking on the visceral part of the experience
Awards praising design
Thomas Ingenlath. Now that might not be a name you’re instantly familiar with. In the early 2000’s he was a car designer at the Volkswagen group. Most notably he was responsible for a handful of Škoda models during that time. In 2012 he moved to Volvo and in 2017 he was assigned to be the CEO of the Polestar subbrand.
Now why am I telling you this? Because it doesn’t happen often in a large car company that the actual CEO of the brand is responsible for the design of the Polestar 1.
And the end result is breathtaking. The whole design pulls everyone's attention towards it. Yet it does it so without a design which is too busy or shouty. The width and low height really demand presence. The Polestar 1 has sleek design, sharp purposeful lines gives the car a sporty appearance.
I’m a big fan of large clamshell bonnets, this in combination with the low glass roof brings the whole GT style alive. It’s a stunningly design-driven car.
Inside this sleek design continues. The white seats complement the interior very well and are very comfortable. The infotainment screen still is very much from Volvo. And honestly, it’s not my favorite. The vertical layout with the endless parts of the menus and AC controls. It’s just too much in too much places so you’re just tapping the screen way too much. The same for the dashboard controls, they are beautifully simplistic but confusing to use and access more of the menus.
Even the sound system is a beauty both in specs as in design. It’s a Bowers & Wilkins 1400 Watt, 16 speaker design with an innovative ‘open-air’ subwoofer. And to top it off, it has a special feature in which it will replicate the acoustics of the Gothenburg Concert Hall. And I really have to applaud Polestar and Bowers & Wilkins for this one. It is one of the finest sound systems I’ve ever experienced in a car. The sound is crystal clear, both very fitting to play classical orchestral music whilst also pumping out absolute bangers like you’re watching Armin Van Buuren play on the Mainstage from Tomorrowland.
Adjustable GT
In terms of dynamics, I’ve already covered that acceleration is lightning fast but it isn’t very exciting. So how’s the handling? Well, combining 3 electric motors with a big battery pack and a turbo+supercharged engine will have some weight penalties. And the Polestar 1 tips the scales at just under 2.3 tonnes. Even though it manages to hide its weight quite nicely, there’s no escaping the laws of physics. It’s fast but push it too much and it’ll always end in massive understeer. Especially when the batteries run out of juice. There’s just too much power going to the front wheels and the rear electric motors could benefit from a little more aggressive calibration.
However, the great thing about these Öhlins dampers is the fact that they are adjustable. Not the push-of-a-button kind of adjustable. They are adjustable coilovers by turning the dial on the damper. It’s nice because throughout the week, I did find it to be a little bit hard to classify it as a GT being that it drove a little hard on the bumps. At the end of the week, I turned the front suspension a click down and the front axle was noticeably softer. The back is more tricky because you would need to get behind the wheels. However, it’s a lovely system which you don’t get on a lot of cars from factory.
The perfect gala suit
So overall the Polestar 1 is an amazing car, the sharp looks, the performance. What’s not to love? Well… the price tag maybe. Coming in at just 158.500 € it is a lot of money. Especially for a car which isn't really sport, nor does it feel like a GT car you go on road trips with. I really loved the Polestar and the best way to describe it is as a gala suit. An amazing looking suit who will have everybody looking at you but it’s also very expensive and only used on occasion.
