Polestar confirms three new electric cars will come to Australia

A fresh European car brand has revealed it’ll boost its local line-up with a mass of new and exciting models that could help it beat Tesla.

The future appears bright for electric car fans as Polestar confirms three more models headed our way.

Polestar’s global sales chief, Mike Whittington, revealed earlier this week the Polestar 3, 4 and 5 electric vehicles will join the Polestar 2 small sedan in its line-up Down Under.

The 3 is a large SUV similar to the Volvo XC90 and the 4 is a coupe-styled medium SUV aimed at the Porsche Macan and Tesla Model Y. The Polestar 5 is a luxury electric sedan, similar to the Tesla Model S and Mercedes EQS.

The Polestar 3 will arrive next year.

The Polestar 3 is due to arrive locally next year, with the others to follow.

Whittington also believes Polestar’s future vehicles are likely to have 600km of range.

“600km of range is coming very quickly. If I look at where we are aiming with our future products, then 600km of range is very achievable,” he says.

These future models are crucial to the brand’s plan to outsell Tesla.

“[Australia is] a very important market for us, the second largest right-hand drive market, we see a lot of growth potential here and we need to make sure our strategy supports that,” says Whittington.

Polestar has started deliveries of its 2 sedan, which outsold its rival the Tesla Model 3 in April.

Polestar will have four vehicles in its future Australian line-up.

The brand is targeting up to 2000 sales a year, but supply constraints are likely to restrict the end number.

Whittington says the supply issue is very erratic and unpredictable and is likely to stretch into 2023.

“I suspect we are probably going to see disruption for the balance of the year, but at the moment it seems to be moving in the right direction,” he says.

The Polestar 2 is the only one of the brand’s vehicles currently on sale here.

The Chinese government’s Covid-19 lockdowns of major cities has affected the brand’s factories that supply Australia, but Whittington remains confident that once the lockdowns are lifted the company can clear the backlog quickly.

Currently the Polestar 2 has a waiting list of about six months, which is better than many rivals.

Local boss, Samantha Johnson, says the majority of buyers are choosing the most expensive dual motor versions.

The dual motor version makes an impressive 300kW and 660Nm and has a driving range of up to 480km.

It has a waiting list of about six months.

The long range single motor version is also popular with buyers and sports a claimed driving range of up to 540km.

Only the cheapest standard range single motor version is able to claim various state government rebates. This is also the least popular variant to date.

Johnson said that while not many customers were able to use the government incentives they were useful in building interest in electric cars.

“The rebates have allowed people to think of EVs and to consider EVs and probably have brought people in who then say, actually I do want this, I do want that and they’ve taken that decision,” she says.

Johnson would also welcome a rethink of the incentive thresholds to help boost take-up of the sustainable machines.

Originally published as Polestar confirms three new electric cars will come to Australia