Polestar is going all in with its first electric crossover SUV, the Polestar 3, with plans to take on the established US core luxury market. With the Polestar 3 expected to arrive later this year, the company is confident it will hit its launch targets which will be accompanied by a massive new marketing campaign.
The EV maker, launched by Volvo and Geely, saw revenue surge by 84% to $2.5 billion in 2022 after beating its goal and delivering 51,491 vehicles.
After revealing its first fully electric car, the Polestar 2, in 2019 as a premium performance fastback set to compete with the Tesla Model 3, the brand has grown to become a real contender in the rapidly expanding EV era.
Since its launch in mid-2020, the Polestar 2 has become a top ten best-selling electric vehicle in several key markets, including the UK, Canada, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, and more.
Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, expects the momentum to snowball in 2023 with an “exciting year” ahead. Polestar aims to deliver 80,000 vehicles this year, up around 60% from 2022.
A big reason for the enthusiasm is due to the company’s first electric luxury crossover, which Polestar calls the “SUV for the electric age.” The Polestar 3 features the brand’s signature minimalist Scandinavian design, improved aerodynamics for efficiency, and a powerful, wide SUV-like stance.
The EV marker unveiled the Polestar 3 in October as part of its new wave of electric vehicles, building upon the success established with the Polestar 2.
The Polestar 3 recently launched in China, but according to the Head of Polestar USA, Greg Hembrough, the company is planning a more aggressive launch in the US and Canada.
Polestar 3 luxury electric crossover North American launch
Speaking to Automotive News, Hembrough says Polestar will launch its electric SUV with a new $20 million marketing campaign in Q2.
The investment is more than Polestar has spent in the past nine months combined, topping what it dished out for last year’s Super Bowl.
According to Hembrough, North America, including the US and Canada, will be the Polestar 3s biggest market, representing roughly a quarter of global sales.
Although Polestar has achieved success with its electric sedan, the Polestar 3 will serve a bigger market. Hembrough forecasts premium midsize crossover sales to reach 625,000 in sales this year, compared to the US luxury sedan market with 379,000.
To ensure Polestar reaches the masses, the brand’s new marketing campaign will extend across digital, television, and outdoor advertising, beginning on April 4.
The Polestar 3 will ride on the same platform used for Volvo’s EX90 SUV, offering up to 300 miles range and 30 min fast charge capabilities for a starting price of around $85,000.
Hembrough says he is confident the Polestar 3 will hit its North American launch targets. Polestar will begin mass production at Volvo’s plant in Chengdu, China, around the middle of the year, with plans to produce the electric SUV at Polestar’s South Carolina plant in 2024.
He added the Polestar 3 will launch with a competitive lease offer and will qualify for up to $7,500 in commercial clean vehicle tax credits.
Polestar has several small retail locations in US cities and “Destinations” for suburban buyers, but the EV maker plans to stick to its mostly digital business model.
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Hyundai is about to launch a new electric SUV in China. With its big debut coming up, Hyundai just dropped a sneak peek, and it looks like it could be the IONIQ 4. Check it out for yourself in the video below.
Is Hyundai teasing the IONIQ 4?
We caught our first glimpse of the new EV model last month after Beijing Hyundai released a few official “spy” photos.
Despite the camouflage, you can see a few design elements, like a light bar across the front, slim LED headlights, and a closed-off grille. At first, it almost looks like a smaller version of the IONIQ 9, Hyundai’s first three-row electric SUV, but with a much sportier, shaped profile.
Beijing Hyundai released a new teaser for the upcoming electric SUV this week. The video shows “a wave of high-end operations” as the vehicle dances across the snow.
The video highlights features like real-time torque control, high-speed cornering, and the SUV’s impressive body control while driving around cones.
Hyundai’s new electric SUV is being called “OE” internally, according to The Korean Car Blog, suggesting it could be an IONIQ model.
All other Hyundai IONIQ EV models were also codenamed with an “E” internally, which is raising speculation that this could be the IONIQ 4.
Like most global OEMs, Hyundai is fighting to compete in an intense Chinese EV market, which is dominated by domestic automakers like BYD.
Hyundai opened its first overseas R&D center last year in China to spearhead its comeback. It will work with local suppliers and tech companies to develop EVs designed for Chinese buyers. The new electric SUV is expected to launch in China later this year, followed by three new energy vehicles, including EVs and EREVs.
Beijing Hyundai will release more information on April 16, with the electric SUV set to “challenge the limit of driving performance.”
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric SUV? Is this the IONIQ 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Charge point provider char.gy has secured a £130 million contract to install 6,000 curbside EV chargers for Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) – the UK’s largest installation of its kind.
London-based char.gy has also been awarded a 15-year contract to operate and maintain the charging network.
Installing Level 2 chargers curbside, where most drivers in the UK park, will enable more people to take advantage of cheaper charging rates while juicing up their EVs overnight. (charg.gy’s pay as you go night tariff, between midnight and 7 am, is £0.39/kWh, compared to its £0.59/kWh day tariff.)
John Lewis, chief executive of char.gy, said the project is “a huge moment for the UK and its EV ambitions. This partnership alone will empower thousands of residents to confidently make the switch to electric vehicles, knowing they have easy access to chargers.”
Brighton and Hove City Council is among the first to tap into the government’s Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, designed to help English local authorities roll out charging solutions for residents without off-street parking. Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood said making EV charging as accessible as possible is “crucial to making the switch to electric a success.”
The UK now has over 75,000 public EV chargers, according to the Department for Transport—and it looks like the country’s on pace to hit its 2030 target. Back in December, the National Audit Office said the rollout is “on track” to meet the DfT’s estimate that at least 300,000 chargers will be needed by the end of the decade.
Read more: Meet the UK’s largest solar + storage EV charging ‘Superhub’
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