When Is Volvo Making Convertibles Again
Polestar today unveiled the new O₂ concept, an open-topped roadster that builds on the futuristic design language first explored by 2020'due south Precept sedan. While many exterior cues from that car appear on the O₂, albeit in a more than compact packet, new interior materials reveal a more than focused conception of sustainability refined over the interim years.
Public reaction to the Precept proved powerful enough that Polestar eventually decided to build information technology as a full production model, dubbed the Polestar 5, past 2024. The visitor claims upwardly to 95% of the design will remain unchanged. Whether or not the O₂ ends upwardly realized as an entrant into the emerging electric sports machine market place similarly depends on public response.
Regardless, the playful concept certainly indicates Polestar'south ongoing differentiation from Volvo, as well every bit a renewed commitment to building a fully carbon-neutral passenger vehicle by 2030.
The Pure Play EV Visitor
At the O₂'s swanky Beverly Hills debut, Polestar Caput of Design Maximilian Missoni discussed the evolving ethos revealed on both the Precept & the new blueprint.
"When yous see this automobile, I think nobody volition meet information technology and think it has some Volvo Deoxyribonucleic acid," he said. "Information technology'due south the kind of craftsmanship that we utilise, the traditional motorcar design which we have learned to exercise, plus these extremely stringent architectural, technical lines and logics behind the car. This is all very Polestar, the aesthetics derived from technical functionality."
The O₂'due south clean, muscular shapes deftly transition from smoothen, curved surfaces to abrupt angles while managing to avoid the weightiness common of electric vehicle design (and, to a certain extent, the massive Precept). A two-slice hardtop convertible layout and calorie-free blue paint that Missoni unofficially called "Oxygen" both aid to reinforce what Polestar terms a "pure play" aesthetic.
That open up-topped layout immune Missoni and his design team to fully explore the fun factor inherent to convertibles, to the extent that sharing space with the retracted hardtop beneath the rear clamshell lives a drone on an electromagnetic plinth, able to slide out and launch at driving speeds up to 30 kilometers per 60 minutes. Later on all, while cruising with the top down, enjoying the silence of nature without an internal combustion engine ruining the peace and repose, why non capture a few selfies for social media?
As an all-electric sports machine—and in opposition to the super-hybrid Polestar 1, commuter Polestar 2 and grand touring Polestar 5—the O₂ concept would occupy an undoubtedly niche market if information technology does enter product.
Where the five openly targets the likes of Volkswagen AG's Porsche Taycan and Audi RS e-tron GT, as well as the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air, perhaps the merely existent competitor to the O₂ might arrive in the form of the next-generation, fully electric Boxster and Cayman siblings. Otherwise, the eventual Tesla Roadster at $200,000 or even a Rimac Nevera at well over $2 million round out the residual of the segment.
A retractable roof does, withal, forfeit the LIDAR pod that sits atop the Precept in anticipation of Level 4 autonomous driving. And the pre-product concept's interior functions minimally, with none of the ocular tracking or hand-waving recognition just rather, a widget on the big key screen that tracks the drone overhead.
Advanced Materials Brand up a Futuristic Design
The O₂ concept reveals enough of other hereafter-facing processes that Polestar hopes to manifest in forthcoming vehicles. Missoni highlighted the bonded aluminum unibody, developed by the same engineering team that electrified London'south taxicabs, which allows for both the Precept and O₂ to ride on what he calls "scalable sports auto architecture."
Inside and out, the O₂'s materials take another pace across the Axiom's sustainability efforts by simplifying the recycling procedure thank you to the use of mono-materials, rather than focusing on natural substances like hemp or previously recycled plastics.
"People yet take this notion that natural materials are better than synthetic materials, merely so you procedure them to the point that they become synthetic anyway," Missoni explained. "To avoid that, you have all the soft stuff, the surface materials, foams and fibers, and you go far from one thermoplastic that tin be recycled over and over again."
"It'southward a bit of a twist in the mindset, not using natural materials but using synthetic materials that are purposefully recyclable. They are round."
In conjunction with a constellation of suppliers, Polestar aims to build a fully carbon neutral car past 2030, with optimized production methods and materials in add-on to the greener buying made possible by ditching fossil fuels. But the O₂ concept automobile remains an early concept and few concrete details accept been revealed thus far other than the shorter wheelbase of that scalable chassis, relocated battery cells and a flake less room for the "+2" in the rear seat.
Should the concept graduate to production, expect one or two of Polestar'due south forthcoming P10 motor, which promises fifty% more ability than a Taycan's, to permit for borderline hypercar operation—even if the pricetag falls far curt of the Nevera.
Spinning Further Away From Volvo
If whatever fans of the Precept concept waiting for a production Polestar v doubted whether Polestar would go along spinning further away from Volvo, the new O₂ pattern proves just how far apart the two brands now sit beneath the umbrella of Chinese parent visitor Geely.
Missoni repeatedly brought up the goal of moving Polestar in a premium direction, pointing dorsum to the "almost Italian" Volvo P1800 and "indigestible" 850 that served as inspiration for Volvo's current styling during his 10-twelvemonth stint every bit Head of Outside Design before the split.
The O₂'s more futuristic shape, if not its entire purpose, likely belongs to a new era of automotive expression. Even if the market for an electric sports machine remains more than limited than for a commuter EV, the styling, technology and sustainability underpinning the O₂ should serve as guiding lights for Polestar's forthcoming 3 and 4 SUVs.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/polestar-o2-concept/
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