Development Director: “Polestar 5 is built on our first wholly owned platform”

Polestar has pulled the lid off the self-developed new electric vehicle platform on which the upcoming Porsche Challenger 5 will be built. We had a chat with Polestar UK Director of Development Steve Swift about the work behind the platform.

Polestar principle, or The Polestar 5, as it will be called, takes a major technical step from Volvo. For a little more than two years, a new aluminum platform was developed in England, where it was impossible to build such a low and sporty car on technology shared with Volvo in, say, the upcoming Polestar 3.

The fact that the platform and chassis are being developed in England is partly due to the fact that there is a long tradition of building sports cars and racing cars there and “the technical heritage of motorsports has looked at a set of rules and quickly developed the best solution that fits a Polestar perfectly,” says Steve Swift – who is currently working on it. Just over 280 employees, which will soon be 500. During the two years, they upgraded their buildings twice and soon another transition time would come.

Steve Swift, Director of Development at Polestar.

“We want to show the dynamics that the Polestar brand represents and so we need a really light and solid platform,” he told Recharge.

how much weight One will save on the sticky aluminum chassis Steve doesn’t want to answer right now, or how much stiffer the car is. But it will obviously be a lightweight, crash-resistant chassis that will provide “a truly entertaining driving experience and high comfort,” he says.

The big challenge with the Polestar 5 is to be true to the Precept when it comes to vehicle height, while the wipers have to be good.

Without aluminum frame Without the Polestar 5, we wouldn’t have been able to build such a low-end car on the current Volvo platform. The combination of ceiling height and ground clearance requires new technology.

Guess what, the Polestar 5 will be a niche car in the Polestar model range as well, so you can justify the development and manufacturing costs that come with the aluminum chassis.

“The balance between cost and volume is right,” Steve Swift told Recharge.

When asked if Polestar is cooperating with its colleagues in the Geely Lotus group, which also works on an electric car platform, on development work, the answer was short: “No, we have a friendly competitive relationship.”

Polestar 5 will not come Nor to use Tesla’s so-called “bulk casting” technology that Volvo will offer in its upcoming models – with the large bearing parts.

When asked if the Polestar 5 would be as sporty as competing Porsche models, Steve said: “We will offer a more advanced car, which will be flexible to drive but also really comfortable. Drivers who love to drive will have their car, while those who want a beautiful car will be very satisfied. also “.

Next question: Will the Polestar 5 have an adjustable suspension that can be adjusted from inside the cabin – you don’t have to get out of the car and get on your knees (as with the Polestar 2 today) if you want to get out of the sport and rest?

Here comes the laughter In response, which is open to all for interpretation, but the most important thing Steve wants to say in today’s interview, where he also opens up for us to be able to visit later and look at the development is:

“Polestar is truly its own brand that develops its own cars!”