Polestar powers up in Singapore

Singapore

NEW electric cars seem to be rolling into town at a frenzied pace, but this week saw the launch of an electric brand. Wearnes Automotive unveiled the Polestar 2 here on Dec 8 (Wednesday), displaying the five-door liftback in a temporary space at its building on 45 Leng Kee Road.

While Wednesday marked the brand's official start here, Wearnes began showing the Polestar 2 to prospective buyers behind closed doors in October, collecting around 50 refundable deposits since then.

The multi-brand dealership is renovating a dedicated showroom for the brand and expects to open it in January.

"As the electric sector gathers momentum, Polestar 2 will establish itself as a truly enjoyable, premium electric alternative," Wearnes Automotive chief executive Andre Roy said in a statement. "We pride ourselves on the 'Wearnes Experience', giving our customers unparalleled levels of service and excellence. This fits the Polestar strategy perfectly."

Polestar is an offshoot of Volvo, itself formerly a division of China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group until going public in October this year. The brand grew out of a racing team that Volvo bought in 2005 and is still headquartered in Sweden, but builds its cars in China.

For now the Polestar 2, a five-door fastback, is its sole offering here but it comes in three different battery and motor configurations.

A long range, dual motor variant offers the most performance and tops the price list here at S$240,000 with Certificate Of Entitlement. It zips to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, powered by two electric motors giving it 402 horsepower and all-wheel drive. Polestar says its 75 kWh battery is good for "up to 480 km".

A long range, single motor version costs S$214,000 and gets by on 228 hp. It hits 100 km/h in 7.4 seconds and can stretch a full charge up to 540 km. The same car with a smaller, 67 kwh battery (the standard range variant) offers identical performance but with a range of 470km. Wearnes did not release prices for that version.

Expanding to Singapore is part of Polestar's goal to double its sales footprint to 150 dealerships worldwide by the end of 2022. It wants to sell 290,000 cars annually by 2025, ten times more than it expects to produce this year.

The brand is targeting aggressive growth as it prepares to go public in the first half of next year via a merger with Gores Guggenheim, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal potentially worth US$20 billion.