What is it with electric vehicle manufacturers and their insistence on keeping nameplates down to the bare minimum?
Volvo’s EV offshoot, Polestar, has unveiled its second rather handsome creation.
And yes, somewhat inevitably, it’s called the Polestar 2. The revealing of the new five-door hatchback follows on from last year’s debut of the Polestar 1 electric two-door coupe. Keeping up?
Here at The Good Oil, you’d think a line-up of stylish electric vehicles would lend itself to all sorts of outrageous badge-fodder.
General Motors gave it a go with Volt and Bolt. Other than that, though, appliance-like names seem to be the fashion.
What about Lightning? Superconductor? Static? Okay, maybe not that last one.
At least Tesla is having a bit of fun with its Models S, 3, X and forthcoming Y.
Other than that, though, it’s all R1T and i3. Jaguar’s I-Pace isn’t even on the money, seeing as it should really have been called the E-Pace (the name the Brit brand has prescribed to its compact crossover SUV instead, for some reason).
As to the Polestar 2, the company says its new all-wheel-drive EV has a 300-mile (482km) range from two electric motors and a 78kWh battery pack.
System output is 304kW and 660Nm. Polestar says there will be an optional performance package available too, which adds Ohlins dampers, Brembo brakes and 20in wheels.
The Polestar 2 will also be among the world’s first cars to use an Android-powered infotainment system. Embedded Google services such as Google Assistant, Google Maps with support for EVs and Google Play Store are to be incorporated into a car for the first time.
And of course, there will be a mid-size electric crossover joining the Polestar range in 2021.
It’s called the Polestar 3. But of course it is.
It’s been a while since a Saab rumour surfaced
So, here’s one arriving now. But no, sorry, it’s no less vaguely related to a physical return by the much-missed Swedish brand than pretty much any other similar scuttlebutt issued over the five years.
And it’s only tangentially related to Saab. But bear with us.
A few years back, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) purchased Saab, promising that it would take the already slightly creaky Saab 9-3 and remake it as an electric car for the Swedish and Chinese markets. It was going to be built in China and as a precursor, a concept car surfaced, which effectively appeared to be a tarted-up 9-3 with a NEVS badge on the bonnet.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much it. Things went quiet. Another Saab revival rumour (possibly the most likely one in years) was put to bed.
However, memories of all that Swedish palaver surfaced this week when British motoring outlet Autocar reported that NEVS not only still exists as a going concern, but has now turned its attention on another Scandi car brand; Koenigsegg.
NEVS has apparently purchased a 20 per cent stake in the low-volume supercar manufacturer and plans to take another 45 per cent further down the track. The plan — and this will start to sound familiar now — is to partner with it to build electric vehicles.
As in, electric Koenigsegg supercars? We’re not sure, but NEVS has stated it wants to use Koenigsegg’s expertise, while the supercar-builder’s boss has said the deal will ensure the viability of the brand.
It sounds like NEVS has a shiny new toy, then. But it’s not Saab. Unless of course it plans to develop robustly performing electric hardware in a low-volume supercar bodyshell for the world’s elite, before taking the battery system and platform and reshaping it for a mass-market Saab EV?
You didn’t hear it here first.