The Polestar One will be limited to just 1,500 units over a three-year production run and, as Matt Farah recently discovered during his first drive of the plug-in hybrid, it is a very special thing.
The powertrain of the Polestar One is surely one of the most complex of any automobile on the market. At the front there’s a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 340 hp. The Polestar One also sports two electric motors on the rear axle, a third electric motor attached to the engine, and a 34 kWh battery pack. All up, the One is rated at 592 hp and 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) of torque.
While many other expensive hybrids on the market are all about offering the ultimate performance, the Polestar One isn’t a sports car by any means. Instead, it is a luxurious GT car that could somewhat be viewed as a more practical alternative to the BMW M8. Farah was very impressed with it.
As you would imagine, having a powerful 2.0-liter twin-charged engine and three electric motors makes the Polestar very fast. However, the straight-line performance doesn’t seem to be the best thing about it.
Like some other Polestar-branded Volvo models, the One has complex adjustable Ohlins dampers. Farah comments that these manually-adjustable dampers give the car an excellent sense of poise and control. In fact, the dampers mean that not even significant bumps in the road upset the handling balance of the car. He also adds that it is one of the best-looking cars on the market (although, of course, that’s subjective) and attracts more attention on the road than any other modern street car that he has driven.