Discreet performance: the all‑electric Polestar 2

The Scandi-look fastback is Polestar’s first fully electric car, and its most mainstream offering. It’s aimed squarely at the Model 3, Tesla’s more compact and affordable electric car for the masses – though one yet to arrive in Europe. Polestar, in contrast, is promising that Polestar 2 – which is being made in China in a new and utterly vast purpose-built plant – will be whirring silently around on our roads in a just one year’s time.

You will have to wait for the £35,000 version, though. Like other electric arrivals recently, first-year production will comprise a launch edition only, priced at €60,000 or, at today’s rates, about £51,000. After that the range proper will begin at €39,900 (£35,000) – a temptingly low entry point for a premium electric car. And if you don’t want to buy one outright you can always take out a monthly subscription; like all Polestar cars – and there are plenty more to come – all ordering will be done online rather than in a showroom.

Polestar 2 is Volvo XC40 sized, a car with which it shares the group’s CMA modular architecture, but this is no high-riding SUV-alike. As a five-door hatchback its design is more conventional, though with plenty of Scandinavian-style cool to distinguish it, particularly from the rear with its full-width light bar.

Crisp lines, plain surfaces and minimalism, along with plenty of tried and tested Volvo traits, also characterise the interior. The cabin is dominated by a floating centre touch-screen almost as big as the displays used in Teslas. Reflecting its avant garde digitally connected nature, the car has been embedded with an infotainment system powered by Android. Apps and vehicle functions sit side by side, while a range of Google services is available, controlled by natural-voice instructions.

Polestar has been set up as a performance electric brand, and Polestar 2 meets its obligations with a twin-electric motor set-up driving all four wheels. The motors deliver 408PS (401bhp) backed up by 660Nm (487lb ft) of torque, enough, says Polestar, for 0-62mph acceleration in less than five seconds. For extra driving appeal, a performance pack will be available that includes Öhlins dampers, Brembo brakes and 20-inch forged wheels.

The 78kWh battery under the car’s floor targets a range of 500km (310 miles) under the new WLTP protocol. Charging? Polestar is still working on that but promises hassle-free access to the world’s largest public charging networks by the time the car arrives.

Ahead of that, look out for the Swedish-designed, Chinese-built Tesla hunter as it embarks on a global road show in 2019. Polestar: sounds cool, looks cool, should be good to drive… and the interior is even vegan!