Key Takeaways
- The Polestar 2 will be succeeded by the Polestar 7, offering a groundbreaking design.
- The Polestar 7 will likely be based on a tweaked version of the SEA platform for better range and performance.
- CEO Thomas Ingenlath doesn’t believe tariffs against Chinese EVs would work.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath has confirmed that the Polestar 2, the brand’s bread-and-butter model, won’t be replaced by a similar successor. Speaking to Autocar, the chief executive confirmed the crossover will be succeeded by the Polestar 7, suggesting it will be a very different machine to the EV we know today.
Ingenlath isn’t prepared to share details for now, noting, “What type of car and how we will do it, we can discuss when it’s time.” While it will fill the gap left by the Polestar 2 and cater to a similar set of customers, the Polestar 7 will likely debut with a groundbreaking design and something to differentiate it from rivals. “As much as we might build a very similar car, because it has a different number, we won’t have this natural trap where we’re boxed into that concept of what the car had been,” said Ingenlath.
The CEO referenced the Volkswagen Golf, which has come to represent the compact hatchback category. “As nice as it is to have a Golf category of car, it’s very limiting in terms of innovative power because you’re always back in the box of what the ‘Golf’ should be.”
What Can We Expect From The Polestar 7?
Whereas the Polestar 2 is based on the Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform, the replacement model will likely be based on a tweaked version of the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform that is currently used for several vehicles under the Geely umbrella, including the Polestar 4, Volvo EM90, Zeekr 001, and Zeekr 009.
By 2027, we expect several improvements will be made to the platform, enabling superior range, performance, and efficiency. In the case of the Polestar 4 – the company’s quickest-accelerating production car – the electric crossover can sprint to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds.
Related
Polestar 4 Arrives In America Below $55k
The Polestar 4 arrives in America with up to 536 horsepower.
Since the Polestar 2 (and its successor) is positioned below the Polestar 4, we don’t expect it to offer the same levels of power and performance, but both the Polestar 4 and the Polestar 2 replacement will doubtless make leaps forward in every metric.
Ingenlath also commented on Polestar’s business strategy change after Volvo reduced its stake to 18%. This was always planned, said the CEO, with Polestar planning to attract investment from other stakeholders. “It was always clear that the money shouldn’t just come out of the pockets of the owners, and we would have to find some ways of financing it without going to Volvo and Geely and saying: “Mummy, Daddy, we need money.'”
Ingenlath Argues Against International Trade Tariffs
Discussing the company’s challenges, the CEO said Europe’s ambivalence towards new technology hinders the company, noting that “innovation is not easy to sell in Europe” and that Europeans will “have to be a bit more open and a bit more speedy in embracing it.”
While European officials are considering a tariff on affordable Chinese cars, Ingenlath is against the idea: “It’s another real obstacle for building successful international companies, and that’s for each and every internationally operating company. I don’t think that, in the big picture, it’s beneficial for the progress of the nations.”
Several other industry figureheads have made similar comments, including Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
