Polestar presents the O2 Concept. With this, the brand shows what a fully electric Polestar roadster can look like. It also showcases Polestar’s progressive approach to material selection.
Polestar is making good progress. After the Polestar 1 and Polestar 2, which are still based on Volvo concepts, three models that it has designed itself will appear in the coming years. First comes the Polestar 3, a ‘performance SUV’, then the Polestar 4, a more compact SUV-style with a sloping roofline, and finally the Polestar 5, a sleek four-door GT. The ‘5’ will roughly be the production version of the Precept Concept unveiled in 2020, but the Polestars 3 and 4 also borrow much of their lines from the Precept Concept. Polestar is now building on its own design language with this O2 Concept.
Four seat ‘roadster’
At a glance you can see that the O2 Concept is very similar to the Precept. With its two-part headlights and sharply shaped yet minimalist nose. The similarities are also striking on the back. Like the Precept Concept, the O2 Concept has a single continuous LED bar as a rear light, which dips down abruptly at the corners. What happens in the middle of the car, however, is completely different. The O2 Concept is not a four-door GT but a real four-seat roadster. Polestar opens a new chapter with the O2 Concept. “Polestar O2 is the epitome of Polestar’s vision of open-air driving and exciting ride quality – with all the benefits of electric mobility,” said the Swedish-Chinese brand.
Everything is possible with a concept car and that means that Polestar has been able to turn the roof into a considerable eye-catcher. It is in fact a largely glass roof, which can be removed from the car in its entirety. Carefully placing it somewhere without damaging the glass seems like a nice challenge, but it certainly looks spectacular. In the interior, minimalism reigns supreme. As with the Precept Concept – there it is again – the O2 Concept has a clean and tidy dashboard, which is interrupted only by a centrally placed vertical 15-inch display. Almost everything can be operated on it, but there are also steering levers present. Behind the wheel is a relatively small display for the digital instruments.
A nice gimmick: the O2 Concept has its own film drone on board. The rear seat can be raised slightly while driving to create a negative pressure zone, so that the drone can take off while driving without being blown away immediately. The drone can then autonomously follow the car up to a speed of 90 km/h and make recordings. It also returns to the car itself and then uploads the images, which you can then view and edit on the central display. Influencers can indulge themselves.
New base
The O2 Concept not only resembles the Precept Concept in many ways, but also shares its technical foundation with it. Or rather, with the production version of the Precept. This is because it is a new platform that has been specifically developed by Polestar for the Polestar 5. Polestar previously indicated that this base, which is largely made of ‘glued aluminum’, should offer the stiffness you expect from a supercar. Polestar states that the O2 Concept proves that ‘old-fashioned’ driving pleasure does not have to be lost with an electric powertrain. Polestar promises ‘high driving dynamics’ and also a car that, despite its undoubtedly relatively high weight, does not feel so heavy.
CEO Thomas Ingenlath tells AutoWeek, among others, that the O2 Concept can theoretically house the same battery pack as the Polestar 5 despite its shorter wheelbase. According to him, it has a capacity of ‘more than 100 kWh’. The CEO also tells us that the O2 Concept is in theory four-wheel drive. Unfortunately, he does not want to elaborate further on the electrical forces. For the Polestar 5, we are in any case committed to a top version with a capacity of (more than) 500 hp, which shoots from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 to 3 seconds. The O2 Concept is for the time being only a design study, so performance figures would also be a bit gimmicky, but such performances would also fit well with the O2 Concept. If these figures become reality, the O2 Concept could also compete well with the upcoming Tesla Roadster, which has to shoot to 100 km / h in 2.1 seconds.
Durable materials
What Polestar will in any case elaborate on, are the materials used for the O2 Concept. Polestar likes to show its ‘sustainable’ side and does the same (as with the Precept Concept) with the O2 Concept. For example, a ‘thermoplastic mono-material’ was used in the interior. One material for many different parts. That should benefit recycling. Only recycled polyester is used for the ‘soft’ parts. All in all, the O2 Concept should be an example of circularity, which also applies to the metals used. The different types of aluminum in the chassis are labeled so that they can be processed separately when the car is dismantled. According to Polestar, this will reduce dependence on virgin aluminum over time.
It all looks promising, but what can we actually expect from it? Well, Polestar states for the time being that the O2 Concept together with the Precept Concept is a preview of the three new models that will arrive in the coming years: the 3, 4 and 5. The Precept will be the Polestar 5, but the O2 Concept does not appear to be immediate production follow-up. Unfortunately?
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl