Although the Polestar 1 has been traveling the world like a rock star, its heart remains in the frigid, Swedish north. And that's just where it's been testing recently to make sure that its chassis is balanced and the car is controllable, even in the snow.
The tests allowed drivers to see what the car felt like on different bushings, with different roll bar stiffnesses, and at different spring rates. All with a view to making the Polestar as confident a driver's car as the name and its associated racing heritage would suggest.
The tests were conducted north of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures dropped to -18 degrees Fahrenheit, to make sure that the Swedish car can handle the extremes of Swedish life.
The slippery conditions also allowed the drivers to test out the torque vectoring system, made possible by the 1's hybrid drivetrain. Thanks to electric motors on either side of the car, power can be fed to either of the rear wheels, allowing the outside wheel to push the car around a corner.
"Besides being very happy with the balance of the chassis, [our test drivers] are particularly excited about the torque vectoring," said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO. "This is a driver's car. We have now passed a major milestone in the development of the Polestar 1, and prototype testing continues throughout 2018."
Thanks to its wealth of motors and a four-cylinder Volvo engine, the Polestar 1 makes a total of about 600 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Although its coupe proportions promise performance over economy, it is still capable of driving silently on its electric motors alone for 95 miles.
Based on Volvo's SPA platform, the Polestar 1 shares a lot in common with the S90, but employs the heavy use of carbon fiber to drop more than 500 lbs of weight while improving torsional rigidity by 45% over its chassis-mates.
All of which is too good not be shown around the world. The next stop is Auto China 2018 in Beijing later this month where it will be shown to the increasingly important Chinese market for the first time.
The tests allowed drivers to see what the car felt like on different bushings, with different roll bar stiffnesses, and at different spring rates. All with a view to making the Polestar as confident a driver's car as the name and its associated racing heritage would suggest.
The tests were conducted north of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures dropped to -18 degrees Fahrenheit, to make sure that the Swedish car can handle the extremes of Swedish life.
The slippery conditions also allowed the drivers to test out the torque vectoring system, made possible by the 1's hybrid drivetrain. Thanks to electric motors on either side of the car, power can be fed to either of the rear wheels, allowing the outside wheel to push the car around a corner.
"Besides being very happy with the balance of the chassis, [our test drivers] are particularly excited about the torque vectoring," said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO. "This is a driver's car. We have now passed a major milestone in the development of the Polestar 1, and prototype testing continues throughout 2018."
Thanks to its wealth of motors and a four-cylinder Volvo engine, the Polestar 1 makes a total of about 600 hp and 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Although its coupe proportions promise performance over economy, it is still capable of driving silently on its electric motors alone for 95 miles.
Based on Volvo's SPA platform, the Polestar 1 shares a lot in common with the S90, but employs the heavy use of carbon fiber to drop more than 500 lbs of weight while improving torsional rigidity by 45% over its chassis-mates.
All of which is too good not be shown around the world. The next stop is Auto China 2018 in Beijing later this month where it will be shown to the increasingly important Chinese market for the first time.
