Electric Brand Polestar is Developing a Single Unit, 636 HP Electric Powertrain With Two-Speed Gearbox, Reports Say

author: Manish Kharinta   

New electric-performance brand Polestar is making impressive strides with its bold EV plans. The company intends to compete with other premium car brands like Tesla and Porsche and is developing a new advanced powertrain to help succeed, according to recent reports. 

Polestar is developing proprietary technology that will include a powerful electric motor and a two-speed gearbox for its future EVs. All of the technology is being developed in-house. 

At the moment, the electric Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT are the only EVs that currently employ a two-speed gearbox. Polestar is hoping that its new technology will help it join this exclusive club.

Head of Polestar Americas, Gregor Hembrough stated that for now, the company is developing the new components under the codename "P10."

The Polestar Precept sedan.

It's clear that Polestar wants to rival Porsche in the performance EV segment. This new unit is said to be about 50% more powerful than the one used in the Porsche Taycan. According to the reports, the P10 gearbox will probably churn out 636 HP of maximum power. 

The platform will use a 103 kWh battery pack, which can be charged up to 80% in around 20 minutes. It will also get the V2X (vehicle-to-everything) capability.

There is a strong possibility that Polestar might combine two P10 units to create an all-wheel-drive powertrain, which could theoretically generate around 1,272 horsepower. 

However, It's also rumored that Polestar might offer the new P10 powertrain as a single unit, which will house both the electric motor and the 2-speed gearbox. With this setup, a dual-motor/all-wheel-drive Polestar EV might come equipped with a gearbox on each axle, which would be a unique design.

The upcoming Polestar 5 EV will likely be the first offering to get the new electric powertrain. The performance EV will be based on Polestar's Percept concept sedan that was unveiled in Aug 2021. 

With this EV powertrain setup, the Polestar 5 could compete with the fastest electric sedans in the world, which includes the Tesla Model S Plaid and the 1,000+ horsepower Lucid Air sedan. 

The automaker's highly-anticipated Polestar 5 sport sedan will probably be the first EV to use the new P10 electric powertrain and gearbox. 

The P10 gearbox will be exclusively used in future Polestar offerings.

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.