- The new Polestar 7 SUV will launch in late 2026 or early 2027
- It won’t replace the Polestar 2, but will be an affordable entry to the brand
- Compact electric SUV will compete with Tesla, Audi and Volvo
Polestar has revealed that it will be adding a new member to its gang of stylish-yet-understated electric vehicles with the upcoming Polestar 7 SUV, which the company says will come before the much-hyped Polestar 6 sports car.
Although the Swedish manufacturer has been a single-model brand for a long time (offering just the Polestar 2 since 2019, which is also due a refresh), it has recently released the larger Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 crossover vehicles, while the upcoming Polestar 5, which will take on the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, is slated for release later this year.
The recently-appointed CEO, Michael Lohscheller, has been talking to various media outlets about his plans to take the brand in a new direction, with the Polestar 7 embodying what he deems to be the perfect car for entering a hugely popular and contested market – one that many premium manufacturers have traditionally avoided.
Although Polestar 7 details are fairly scant, Lohscheller has promised that it will ride on an all-new platform (although he won’t say which of the Geely-owned companies will provide it) and boast “the latest technology”, which can be construed as 800V architecture and 350kW fast charging capabilities.
The new CEO also said that it would sit in-between the Volvo EX30 and EX40, which gives a good indication of size, while pricing will likely also sit between those two models, so between £40,000 and £45,000 in the UK. That will work out as $45,000 and $55,000 for the US market (or around AU$72,000-AU$87,000).
This is prime Tesla Model Y territory, which itself has just receive a long-awaited ‘Juniper’ refresh, but CNBC reports that the brand has recently shed $15 billion in value due, in part, to an aging line-up of vehicles.
During an interview with Car Magazine, the Polestar CEO revealed that the he wants his design team to be “more confident” in the next generation of vehicles. With the Polestar 5 and Polestar 6 already way beyond concept stage, it is up to the Polestar 7 to embody these changes.
“Polestar is sometimes a bit too modest, a bit too humble. In several markets, like in Scandinavia, this works but I would like a little bit more confidence. In the US the Americans don’t like too much understatement,’’ he said.
Analysis: Trump’s America will be a tough nut to crack
The Polestar chief believes that 2025 will be the strongest year in Polestar history, but the company faces numerous question marks over its ability to crack the US market.
Currently, the Polestar 2 and recently released Polestar 3 are available to buy in the US, with the latter built in the company’s Georgia plant. But the outgoing Biden administration has set the wheels in motion for an outright ban on any vehicle that features connected tech hailing from China.
This will adversely affect the Swedish marque, seeing as it is owned by Chinese company Geely and borrows much of its technology from the group. But Polestar’s new CEO says it will seek new suppliers to get around the ban, according to The Financial Times.
To compound matters, Trump’s recent signing of executive orders that could end numerous electric vehicle subsidies will no doubt force Polestar prices in the US up, leaving Tesla to rely on its vast EV economies of scale to offer the cheaper product.