We also talked about some basic questions that keep coming up: how is the charging network for Polestar EVs getting built up? Polestar and Volvo have chosen to run Android Auto for the entire center stack. Eventually, Thomas told me, something else will take over from EVs.īut back here on the ground, the transformation of cars into rolling electric computers is just getting started. Instead, he sees the brand as a set of “core values” about what a car is, with the technology underneath replaceable over time - maybe a long period of time. Thomas told me he doesn’t think of Polestar as an electric car company. We also talked a lot about what makes a car company a car company at a time when everything about cars seems up for grabs. So we talked a lot about what kind of company Polestar is - it’s pretty small and has the ability to rethink a lot of things about how a car company is organized, while having the ability to fall back on a larger company if needed. It’s effectively a startup with tight ties to Volvo, and Thomas himself is Volvo’s chief design officer.
Polestar has two models you can go out and buy today: the $150,000 hybrid Polestar 1 sports coupe and the somewhat more reasonable $60,000 Polestar 2 sedan, which has been getting pretty good reviews. On this episode, I’m talking to Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, a new car company with close family ties to Volvo. We are back after our week off, and we’ve got a good one today.