The Electric Polestar 2 Will Launch Around $65,000 In Europe, At Least At First
Electric cars still aren't cheap. Even something relatively humble like a new Nissan Leaf will put you out some $30,000. Because of battery costs, and the desire for high margins, it makes sense that a lot of automakers are leading with more expensive, luxury-oriented EVs. Volvo's effort is the Polestar brand, launching with the lifted sedan-coupe-thing called the Polestar 2, and it won't be cheap at first.
Polestar today announced European pricing for the Polestar 2 (I suppose I could just call it the "2," but that feels awkward.) Here's what they'll be at the outset:
Norway NOK 469,000
Sweden SEK 659,000
Germany EUR 58,800
United Kingdom GBP 49,900
The Netherlands EUR 59,800
Belgium EUR 59,800
It's never apples-to-apples to convert foreign car prices to U.S. dollars since they're not always equivalent and various features can differ, but that's about $65,000 here. And Polestar says the "guide pricing" for North America, which I'm guessing is their own good estimate, is still $63,000.
That's still more expensive than, say, a Tesla Model 3, which despite never really having had that much-ballyhooed base price averages around $59,000, according to Clean Technica.
Polestar has been pretty clear that the car would launch with a more expensive version at first. The Verge said the car will be around 39,000 euros (roughly $45,000) at the cheapest, but not until the second year of production. The launch edition is around $60,000, as we see up top.
But that comes pretty well-equipped with the 78 kWh battery pack, 400 horsepower output, Pilot Assist semi-autonomous system, panoramic roof, world-first Android Automotive OS, Harmon Kardon sound system, and three years free routine maintenance and service. Range is said to be around 275 miles.
It's a handsome car with impressive specs, for sure, but we'll see if Polestar can really deliver on the cheaper eventual model. We've been burned there before. For now, and despite that, the Model 3 is still the car to beat in this segment.