Earlier this year, Polestar revealed something of a flight of fancy by taking the covers off an all-electric roadster with a convertible hard-top roof that looked more than a little sporty.
This concept, dubbed the O2 when it debuted in March, was entirely plausible, as it was coming from the sister brand of Volvo that had quickly established reputation for delivering quality EVs. Its accompanying built-in “cinematic drone,” however, which was to deploy from the rear to autonomously record your road warrior skills, was far less plausible.
At the time I said that if Polestar ever made this drone I’d eat my driving gloves. Well, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that the company has announced it will be putting the O2 into production under the name Polestar 6. The bad news is, as suspected, the drone will remain firmly grounded on the drawing board. Which also means that, thankfully, my driving gloves live to ride another day.
The Polestar 6 is slated to be delivered in 2026. When it arrives it will be the company’s fourth new car in five years. Next year will see the arrival of the coupe SUV Polestar 4, and the electric four-door GT Polestar 5 will follow in 2024.
Photograph: Polestar
But seeing that Polestar is, as of today, taking reservations for the 6—you’ll have to lay down no less than $25,000 to get on the list, then expect to pay the balance of around $200,000 for the final car—some vital specifications have mercifully been given. It will feature the high-performance, 800-volt electric architecture already confirmed for Polestar 5, bringing it on par with Hyundai and Kia’s existing fast-charging EV platform.
As a roadster you would rightly expect the 6 to be quick, and Polestar is claiming up to 650 kW (equivalent to 884 horsepower) and 900 newton meters of torque from a dual-motor powertrain, as well as a targeted 0 to 62 mph sprint time of 3.2 seconds, then on to a top speed of 155 mph. This is short of Tesla’s endlessly delayed Roadster, with claimed specs of 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds and 255-mph top speed, but then again you’ll get Polestar-Volvo build quality and a sporting chance of the car actually appearing on its forecast delivery date.