Volvo made a big announcement this year. They said they wouldn’t keep giving money to Polestar, the electric car company they started with Geely. Polestar’s CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, explained that Volvo planned to stop funding Polestar from the beginning. He told CAR magazine in the UK, “Volvo always planned to stop being the owner. They will still be our partner for things like making cars and the service network. That was the plan. But it was a bit surprising when it actually happened.”
Ingenlath said Polestar needed money that didn’t come from Volvo and Geely: “We needed to find money that wasn’t just Volvo and Geely giving us more.” They talked about getting $1.3 billion to keep going. At the end of last year, Polestar got $950 million, which they told everyone about in late February. But by then, everyone already knew Volvo wasn’t going to fund them anymore.
What about the future of Polestar? Well, the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 are like Volvo cars. But newer models, like the Polestar 4 and the coming Polestar 5 and 6, are more like Geely cars. The new Polestar 3 and 4, for example, use a platform called SEA, while the Polestar 2 uses a platform called Compact Modular Architecture, which is also used for the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
“In Geely, we will have different owners, of course, and that’s a good thing,” said Ingenlath. “We needed more people to own Polestar as we grow and make cars not just with Volvo.” Geely makes good cars, like the Lotus Eletre and the Zeekr 009 Grand. But is there a risk that Polestar cars could just become like other Geely cars?
Polestar wants to make its cars feel different from Volvo and Geely cars. “You don’t become a great chef just because you use one vegetable nobody else uses. It’s how you cook the meal,” said the CEO. “Everyone’s cooking with meat, pasta, and vegetables. It’s not about what you use, it’s about what you make.”
Polestar wants to make expensive and luxury electric cars that make you feel something when you drive them. They’ve shown they want to make exciting cars, like the Polestar 6 roadster and the Polestar 5 sedan with 872 horsepower. But right now, the Polestar 3 and 4 are the most important. “We have been planning for a long time. But it’s important to be ready for now. We can’t mess up launching the 3 and 4,” said Ingenlath.
