The Polestar 1 order books are opening one last time
Polestar's electric vehicles may still be a rare sight on roads, but the Polestar 1 luxury hybrid coupe looks likely to remain that way for good as the automaker announces it's headed into its final year of production. Deliveries of the two-door only began in 2020, though the hybrid EV's days were already numbered – quite literally – even before it started rolling off the production line.
That's because Polestar only ever intended to build a very limited number of the Polestar 1, as much a halo for the new automaker as it hoped to make a splash in electrification as anything else. Based on the ahead-of-its-time Volvo Coupe concept, which the Swedish automaker – a co-owner of Polestar with Geely – opted not to turn into a production vehicle despite rave reviews in 2013, the Polestar 1 debuted in 2017, long before Polestar 2 production was expected to begin.
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The luxury hybrid, then, served double duty, acting as both an attention-grabbing symbol of Polestar's intent to combine electrification with performance, and as a stopgap for sales while the Polestar 2 project ramped up. Now, with Polestar 2 deliveries underway and the Polestar 3 electric crossover SUV on the not-too-distant horizon, the Polestar 1's ride is coming to an end.
It was always an outlier in Polestar's strategy. Combining a 2.0-liter supercharged and turbocharged gas engine at the front, with two electric motors on the rear axle, it delivered 619 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque in total. A 34 kWh battery enables an ell-electric range of around 60 miles, but Polestar publicly committed to making BEV-only vehicles after Polestar 1.
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Despite all that, the coupe has remained hard not to love. Timeless exterior styling combined with a familiar – though well-constructed – Volvo interior still stand out now, years after the original concept car made its debut. On the road, meanwhile, the Polestar 1 is a legitimately engaging PHEV, using its twin rear electric motors for torque vectoring and helping, along the way, disguise the overall weight of its drivetrain.
Though unarguably a grand tourer, it can also be unexpectedly spritely, something Polestar's lavish use of carbon fiber to keep overall weight reasonable can be credited with enabling.
![](https://www.slashgear.com/img/gallery/the-polestar-1-order-books-are-opening-one-last-time/2020-polestar-1-3.jpg)
Now, Polestar is opening up the order books for model year 2021, for the last remaining build slots. Priced at $155,000 – though with few options to pay extra for – it'll take the final construction run to 1,500 in total. Each is made at Polestar's exclusive Chengdu, China plant, unlike the Polestar 2 which is manufactured at Geely's plant in Luqiao, China.
Production of the Polestar 1 is expected to complete by the end of the year, though you needn't be too sad. The automaker has already confirmed that its equally-striking Precept all-electric luxury vehicle will be made into a production vehicle, giving Polestar a new halo that's arguably more in keeping with its BEV-only strategy. That may have to wait until after the Polestar 3, however.