Electric Performance Brand Polestar Plans to Double the Number of 'Polestar Spaces' Around the World

author: Manish Kharinta   

The Polestar 2 is the first mass-market EV from electric brand Polestar.

Tesla has become the world's most valuable car company and its competitors are actively trying to catch up with the California-based EV pioneer. Recently Volvo's electric vehicle brand Polestar announced that it plans on opening around 20 new "Polestar Spaces" in China.

Polestar is an independent performance electric vehicle brand co-owned by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely) and Sweden's Volvo Car Group. The new Polestar retail locations will help the brand establish a more prominent presence in China, which happens to be the world's largest EV market.

Polestar's strategic move to expand its presence will help the company better compete with Tesla in China. Building on its game plan for the China market, Polestar announced that it intends to double its global market footprint over the next 18 to 24 months.

The company also plans to open twice as many Polestar Spaces worldwide by the end of the year. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City were the first U.S. locations for the Polestar Spaces. 

Industry reports suggest that the company also plans on branching out to the Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern markets.

Polestar intends to have 45 Polestar Spaces up and running by the end of the year and plans to double its current showroom space across the globe at the same time. Polestar plans to use its new retail network to sell about 50,000 electrified vehicles each year by 2023.

The company made its debut in 2017 with the Polestar 1 PHEV, which was a limited-edition performance grand tourer. Right now the company's portfolio consists solely of the 408 horsepower dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Polestar 2 Fastback, which is slated to be offered in a single-motor base variant shortly.

The Polestar 2 is also the first vehicle in the world with an infotainment system powered by Google's Android, with Google Assistant, Google Maps, and the Google Play Store built in.

Polestar is also working on a battery-powered SUV that will help the EV manufacturer capitalize on the growing popularity of the crossover and SUV segment. 

Polestar's parent company the Volvo Car Group recently entered into an exclusive partnership with autonomous driving technology development company Waymo. 

Polestar will be responsible for the production of the EV for the Volvo-Waymo joint venture. It's expected that the company's upcoming electric vehicle will integrate some or all of the Waymo Driver autonomous driving system into an all-new mobility-focused EV architecture for ride hailing services. 

To ensure that every Polestar Space celebrates the brand's unique identity as a standalone division of Volvo and Geely, every retail outfit will have a visual personality that distances itself from the two parent companies.

Manish Kharinta

Manish Kharinta is a automotive writer based in the Los Angeles area. He has worked for automotive industry websites TheSmokingClutch.com, CarDekho.com and CarBikeindia.com. His experience ranges from covering auto shows, to car reviews and breaking automotive news. Manish aims to bring forth his unique perspective on automotive design and technological innovations in the automotive industry.