is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
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It’s been five years since Polestar first introduced the Precept, a concept car that the electric automaker described as “a manifesto of things to come; a declaration.” Well, come they have, because today Polestar finally revealed the production car that’s based on this manifesto: the Polestar 5.
And wow, these specs: up to 460 miles of range, 800-volt architecture for ultra-fast charging, 884 horsepower, 0–60mph in an oomph-inducing 3.1 seconds for the Performance trim. It certainly makes those five years feel like worth the wait.
In final form, the Polestar 5 is an absolutely stunning fastback sedan with dramatic proportions that are sized similarly to the Porsche Panamera. The 5 will be built on a bespoke supercar-like bonded aluminum platform that’s was developed at Polestar’s own facility in England. And like the Polestar 4, it lacks a rear window, relying instead on a high-definition rearview camera.
There’s a lot more, so let’s dig into it.
Image: Polestar
Power
At launch, there will be two versions of the Polestar 5: a Dual Motor trim with 748hp (550kW), 599lb-ft of torque (812 Newton-meters), and a 0–60mph time of 3.8 seconds; and a Performance package with 884hp (650kW), 749lb-ft (1,015Nm) of torque, and 0–60mph acceleration in 3.1 seconds. Both versions are speed-limited to a maximum of 155mph — seemingly in the spirit of former parent company Volvo’s safety maxim of limiting vehicle max speed to 112mph.
The 800-volt architecture is new to Polestar, and should enable 350kW charging when plugged into a suitable charger. That means 10–80 percent charging in “as little” as 22 minutes, the company says. Owners can expect a WLTP estimated range of 670km (416 miles) for the Dual Motor trim and 565km (351 miles) for the Performance one.
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