Confirmed: Polestar is coming to New Zealand
Monday, 23 August 2021
Volvo’s ex-performance arm, now a standalone brand, Polestar, has confirmed it will bring the awesome Polestar 2 electric fastback to New Zealand, complete with at least one variant that will be eligible for the Clean Car Discount.
The Giltrap Group will distribute the brand, but the cars will be sold online, complemented by physical retail locations known as Polestar Spaces and Polestar Destinations.
These allow consumers to interact physically with the brand, meeting with Polestar Specialists to explore the car in more detail, including test drives.
Basically, it’s a showroom for you to experience the cars before you go online to finish the purchase process. Theoretically, it should help drop prices and let buyers add and subtract options easily while also allowing the opportunity to actually see the car before putting money down.
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The first Polestar Destination in New Zealand is planned to open to the public in Auckland, later in 2021, with the Polestar 2 as its first offering.
The Polestar 2 is Polestar’s Model 3 competitor and while it remains to be seen if it can compete on Tesla’s pricing, the specifications look good for a mid-range EV battle.
In its spiciest form, the car packs two electric motors and a 78 kWh battery capacity that the company says will give it a range of around 500 kilometres as well as 300kW and 660Nm of output. Polestar says the four-door should achieve a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of under five seconds.
Polestar 2 is also the world's first car to feature a built-in infotainment system powered by Android, featuring Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Google Play Store.
In New Zealand the Polestar 2 model range will include three versions, each offering a mix of performance and range.
The standard range single motor version will feature a 165 kW/ 330 Nm electric motor and a 69 kWh battery pack while the long range single motor version increases battery capacity to 78 kWh and includes a 170 kW/ 330 Nm powertrain.
The range-topping long range dual motor variant gets the aforementioned twin electric motors and the 78 kWh battery, with a total output of 300 kW and 660 Nm.
“I believe that as a dedicated EV brand, Polestar is a true challenger to the industry, and Giltrap Group is super excited to be the official representative of Polestar in New Zealand,” says Bruce Fowler, Brand Manager for Polestar in New Zealand.
“We cannot wait to introduce Kiwis to the Polestar experience, and there is no doubt that a car like the Polestar 2 will establish itself as a market-leading, premium electric vehicle. The timing couldn’t be better, with the recent introduction of the government’s Clean Car Discount scheme.”
Detailed pricing and specifications will be released alongside online order books, later in 2021, although Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath has revealed that at least one Polestar 2 variant will be eligible for the Clean Car Discount, meaning it will slip in under the $80,000 limit for EVs.
We also know the stunning Precept will be put into production. Perhaps we’ll see it here too?