Polestar O₂
Polestar'south rakish O₂ concept builds on the design language of the earlier Precept sedan and telegraphs both future design linguistic communication and the automaker's goal of producing a fully carbon-neutral car past 2030. Michael Van Runkle

Polestar today unveiled the new O₂ concept, an open-topped roadster that builds on the futuristic design language commencement explored by 2020'south Precept sedan. While many exterior cues from that machine announced on the O₂, albeit in a more compact packet, new interior materials reveal a more than focused conception of sustainability refined over the acting years.

Public reaction to the Axiom proved powerful enough that Polestar eventually decided to build information technology as a full production model, dubbed the Polestar five, past 2024. The company claims upwards to 95% of the pattern will remain unchanged. Whether or non the O₂ ends up realized equally an entrant into the emerging electric sports car market place similarly depends on public response.

Regardless, the playful concept certainly indicates Polestar's ongoing differentiation from Volvo, besides every bit a renewed commitment to building a fully carbon-neutral motorbus by 2030.

The Pure Play EV Company

At the O₂'s swanky Beverly Hills debut, Polestar Head of Pattern Maximilian Missoni discussed the evolving ethos revealed on both the Precept & the new design.

"When you meet this car, I think nobody will see it and think it has some Volvo Deoxyribonucleic acid," he said. "It's the kind of craftsmanship that we apply, the traditional motorcar design which we have learned to do, plus these extremely stringent architectural, technical lines and logics behind the car. This is all very Polestar, the aesthetics derived from technical functionality."

Polestar O₂
Abrupt angles draped over clean, muscular curves make for a very slick-looking machine. Information technology isn't articulate if the sportster will make it to production, just information technology was public response that led the company to transition the earlier Axiom concept to a product-prepare model due in 2024. Michael Van Runkle

The O₂'s make clean, muscular shapes deftly transition from smooth, curved surfaces to abrupt angles while managing to avert the weightiness common of electrical vehicle blueprint (and, to a certain extent, the massive Precept). A ii-piece hardtop convertible layout and light blue paint that Missoni unofficially called "Oxygen" both assist to reinforce what Polestar terms a "pure play" aesthetic.

That open-topped layout allowed Missoni and his design squad to fully explore the fun factor inherent to convertibles, to the extent that sharing space with the retracted hardtop beneath the rear clamshell lives a drone on an electromagnetic plinth, able to slide out and launch at driving speeds up to 30 kilometers per hour. Later all, while cruising with the top down, enjoying the silence of nature without an internal combustion engine ruining the peace and quiet, why not capture a few selfies for social media?

As an all-electric sports auto—and in opposition to the super-hybrid Polestar 1, commuter Polestar 2 and grand touring Polestar five—the O₂ concept would occupy an undoubtedly niche marketplace if information technology does enter production.

Where the 5 openly targets the likes of Volkswagen AG's Porsche Taycan and Audi RS e-tron GT, as well every bit the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air, maybe the only real competitor to the O₂ might arrive in the class of the next-generation, fully electric Boxster and Cayman siblings. Otherwise, the eventual Tesla Roadster at $200,000 or even a Rimac Nevera at well over $two 1000000 round out the rest of the segment.

A retractable roof does, however, forfeit the LIDAR pod that sits atop the Precept in anticipation of Level 4 autonomous driving. And the pre-product concept's interior functions minimally, with none of the ocular tracking or paw-waving recognition but rather, a widget on the large cardinal screen that tracks the drone overhead.

Avant-garde Materials Make up a Futuristic Design

The O₂ concept reveals plenty of other future-facing processes that Polestar hopes to manifest in forthcoming vehicles. Missoni highlighted the bonded aluminum unibody, developed past the aforementioned engineering team that electrified London's taxicabs, which allows for both the Precept and O₂ to ride on what he calls "scalable sports car compages."

Inside and out, the O₂'s materials take another step beyond the Axiom's sustainability efforts by simplifying the recycling process thanks to the employ of mono-materials, rather than focusing on natural substances like hemp or previously recycled plastics.

Polestar O₂
The O₂'s interior isn't fully functional but does showcase the automaker'south infotainment and driver data displays. The slim, multi-colored seats repeat the exterior design and those of the Precept. Michael Van Runkle

"People still have this notion that natural materials are meliorate than synthetic materials, but and then y'all procedure them to the signal that they become synthetic anyway," Missoni explained. "To avoid that, you take all the soft stuff, the surface materials, foams and fibers, and you make information technology from 1 thermoplastic that can exist recycled over and over again."

"Information technology's a scrap of a twist in the mindset, not using natural materials but using synthetic materials that are purposefully recyclable. They are circular."

In conjunction with a constellation of suppliers, Polestar aims to build a fully carbon neutral automobile by 2030, with optimized production methods and materials in addition to the greener buying made possible by ditching fossil fuels. But the O₂ concept car remains an early concept and few physical details have been revealed thus far other than the shorter wheelbase of that scalable chassis, relocated battery cells and a bit less room for the "+2" in the rear seat.

Should the concept graduate to production, expect 1 or 2 of Polestar'southward forthcoming P10 motor, which promises 50% more power than a Taycan's, to allow for borderline hypercar operation—even if the pricetag falls far short of the Nevera.

Spinning Further Away From Volvo

If any fans of the Precept concept waiting for a production Polestar 5 doubted whether Polestar would proceed spinning farther away from Volvo, the new O₂ blueprint proves simply how far apart the two brands now sit down beneath the umbrella of Chinese parent company Geely.

Missoni repeatedly brought up the goal of moving Polestar in a premium direction, pointing back to the "well-nigh Italian" Volvo P1800 and "indigestible" 850 that served as inspiration for Volvo'southward current styling during his 10-year stint as Head of Outside Design earlier the split.

The O₂'s more than futuristic shape, if not its entire purpose, likely belongs to a new era of automotive expression. Fifty-fifty if the market for an electric sports car remains more express than for a commuter EV, the styling, technology and sustainability underpinning the O₂ should serve every bit guiding lights for Polestar's forthcoming three and 4 SUVs.

Polestar O₂
The O₂ looks just as good with its retractable roof in identify, and with the hope of a pair of the visitor'southward P10 motors, it could offer operation that nudges into Rimac territory at a far lower price. Stay tuned. Polestar