【1992 Archives】

Volvo made a big commitment earlier this year to put electric motors in all of its vehicles by 2019 —992 Archivesnow the automaker will double down on electrification with an entirely new luxury car brand.

Volvo and its Chinese parent company, Geely Holdings, just announced that they'll invest about $755 million together to create Polestar, which will manufacture electrified vehicles in China. The new brand will be a "fully consolidated Volvo Cars subsidiary," focused solely on creating electric, performance-first vehicles.

The plans for the Polestar were unveiled at an event in Shanghai, where the first vehicle from the brand, the Polestar 1, also made its debut. The brand new two-door coupé isn't an all-electric car, but it has a hybrid engine that the company claims will offer an estimated 93 miles per charge of range running on electricity alone, which would give it more range than any hybrid currently on the road.

SEE ALSO: Here's how every major automaker plans to go electric

The car boasts a carbon fiber body and the new Öhlins Continuously Controlled Electronic Suspension (CESi), which lets drivers change the settings on the fly to adjust to road conditions.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The Polestar 1 also has an ‘Electric Performance Hybrid’ drivetrain, and it's powerful, too — when its gas engine is pressed into service, the car can produce up to 600 horsepower and 1000Nm of torque.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Polestar isn't skimping on tech, either. The company says the 1 will depend on a new "phone-as-key" system that will allow drivers to share a virtual key with third parties and access specialized concierge services. The Polestar 1 is slated to begin production in a new facility China by mid-2019, just in time to be included in Volvo's new all-electrified car lineup.

If you're interested in snapping up one of the new hybrids, Polestar has an intriguing offer for you: a flat monthly subscription program, similar to the new service Volvo announced for its XC40 SUVs last month. The ordering process for the Polestar 1 will take place entirely online, and the company says it will offer the cars on a two- or three-year subscription basis without a deposit fee (it's not clear how expensive monthly payments will be).

As its name implies, the Polestar 1 is just the first of several planned vehicles from the new brand. Next in line is the Polestar 2, set to start production in mid-2019. The company says the mid-sized car will be the first all-electric vehicle from Volvo, aimed at competing with Tesla's Model 3 sedan. A third vehicle, the Polestar 3, will be an all-electric SUV.

Volvo announced that it will launch three other all-electric cars by 2021, presumably with Volvo branding.

You can order one of the new Polestar 1 cars now, but the company will only produce 500 — so if you want a high-performance hybrid that you can only order online, head over to Polestar's new website to check it out.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Porsche's electric car might just give Tesla a run for its money

---

Topics Electric Vehicles

• Social Good
• Deals
• Entertainment
• Life
• Games
• Tech
• Shopping
• Science

• Best rope light deal: Save 25% on Lepro N1 AI Smart RGB LED Strip Lights
• The internet is very confused by this shirt at the Trump Tower gift shop
• This awful Daily Mail front page is getting dragged all over town for its mindblowing sexism
• 'True Detective' just gave us hope that Season 3 might be good
• Creator job opportunities grew 7x in recent years [April 2025]
• India TV
• In its bid for world domination, Amazon buys up main competition in the Middle East
• Stop working like a sucker and get paid to build Lego models instead
• Philips now allows customers to 3D print replacement parts
• In its bid for world domination, Amazon buys up main competition in the Middle East

• This big city in the South wants to use 100% clean energy by 2035
• Trump might pick a non
• Best headphone deal: Save $50 off the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones at Amazon
• Slack is about to TL;DR your lengthy work threads
• We'll always, er, sorta, have the Paris Climate Agreement
• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry launch rebranded site
• We might get our first look at Android 15 this week
• How to have a successful double or group date
• 200,000 Facebook Marketplace user records were leaked on the dark web
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for February 14

• 4GHz CPU Battle: AMD 2nd
• 'Town Hall' is here, but don't expect to start DMing with Trump
• WhatsApp says it won't create an encryption backdoor, and that's a good thing
• Truecaller gets payment support and Duo integration as it trickles to feature phones
• No Time for a Negative Peace
• North Carolina's bathroom bill will cost the state $3.7 billion
• Donald Trump is nowhere to be found in his White House's first 360
• Stop working like a sucker and get paid to build Lego models instead
• Turtle Beach Recon 50P gaming headset deal: 28% off
• 'Power Rangers' talks a big game on diversity. How does it measure up?

• Best Hydro Flask deal: Save $10 on a 24
• United Airlines: 'Your leggings are welcome.' Delta: 'Duh'
• Five burning questions we have about 'Stranger Things' Season 2
• Chris Hemsworth would like you to get out of his shot, thanks
• Best portable power station deal: Save $179.01 on the EcoFlow River 2 Max
• Chance the Rapper wants an intern, unclear if he'll offer college credit
• Snake on a plane hitches a ride to New Zealand, which has no snakes
• Wiz Khalifa is getting called out for these Instagram pics by Pablo Escobar's grave
• The Baffler’s May Day Round Up
• India TV