Polestar has delivered nearly 1,000 Polestar 4s, but had a tough 2023
Polestar posted its 2023 delivery numbers and, as expected, it’s a mixed bag for the luxury performance EV brand. With the company only meaningfully selling a single vehicle model — its Polestar 2 sedan — deliveries totaled 54,600 cars for 2023. And in Q4 of the year, the pace of deliveries slowed substantially, down to 12,800 cars (annualizing to a rate of 51,200).
Polestar missed even its own revised delivery guidance, issued in November 2023, by over 5,000 cars — a margin of around 10%. Given the relatively high price of the Polestar 2 and the lower overall demand for sedans compared to crossovers and SUVs, it’s not exactly surprising to see the company struggling for growth. On the profit side, Polestar anticipates its previously revised gross margin of 2% will end up being 0%, or break even, for the year.
The Polestar 3, the company’s mid-size luxury SUV, has yet to enter production. In the US, that car will start around $84,000 when it goes on sale this summer. Meanwhile, the company’s first CUV, the Polestar 4, has arrived in China, with 880 units delivered before 2023 ended. When that car starts deliveries the US and Europe (in the next few months), it will be priced at $60,000 and €60,000, respectively.
Suffice it to say, Polestar will have a lot of opportunity to gain ground in 2024.
Electrek’s take
Polestar is in a weird spot. The Polestar 2 sedan launched at a time when competition in the luxury BEV sedan space was relatively limited. While it does feel like a well-put together vehicle, it never compared favorably on price to the wildly popular Tesla Model 3. It’s fair to say that the electric sedan space is utterly cornered by Tesla in the US and Europe (Tesla just launched the “Highland” update to the Model 3 in America, too). Without pricing the Polestar 2 as a severe loss leader, I can’t imagine it would ever become a breakout success, even with significant updates.
With the Polestar 3 and 4, there’s a real chance for the company to regain that momentum. While neither will compare favorably to offerings from Tesla (or even Kia) on a pure value basis, there’s plainly demand for electric crossovers at a variety of price points. Traditional European luxury OEMs like Audi, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar-Land Rover, and BMW (Mercedes being perhaps the exception) have broadly struggled to offer compelling electric crossovers to date.
But with the outlook for global economic conditions still murky in 2024, the future of any luxury carmaker is tough to assess right now. Relying on China, for example, is becoming ever more difficult as domestic EV brands push harder and harder to outprice the competition. As mainstream EV manufacturers focus on delivering improvements to core competencies (range, charging, and cost), consumer knowledge of electric vehicles grows (and thus, fickleness of buyers), and interest rates remain high, it’s certainly not getting any easier out there.
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Environment
Trump approves U.S. Steel merger with Japan’s Nippon after companies sign national security agreement
European EV charging provider Allego has launched what is says is Europe’s first rollout of the “world’s safest and most secure” Plug & Charge technology.
The new tech is based on the open industry standard OCPP 2.0.1 and promises to make EV charging as easy as, well, plugging in your car. Forget apps, cards, and complicated sign-ins. If your EV is compatible, all you have to do is pull up and plug in.
Jean Gadrat, Allego’s CMO, said, “By removing digital friction points, apps, and cards, we give drivers the confidence to travel further and charge more conveniently. Whether in the city, on the highway, or abroad, Plug & Charge delivers the same secure, one-step charging experience.”
Here’s how Allego’s Plug & Charge works
Plug & Charge is an ISO 15118-based authentication and payment method built by Allego on OCPP 2.0.1, standardizing communication between OCPP-compliant chargers and networks.
Once your car is enabled for Plug & Charge, the process is completely hands-off. You plug in, and your EV and the charger swap secure digital certificates to authenticate your account. There’s no need to tap an RFID card, open an app, or even press a button.
Allego’s system supports Mutual TLS encryption and certificate-based authentication, so only authorized vehicles can charge. That means no billing mistakes or fraudulent access, which has been a big concern with some older public charging setups.
Available across Europe now
Allego’s Plug & Charge functionality is at more than 5,000 fast and ultra-fast chargers across Europe, and it also works across partner networks, deploying a truly cross-network Plug & Charge experience.
It’s a future-ready platform, too. Thanks to OCPP 2.0.1, the protocol supports remote firmware updates, advanced security, and new features as they become available. So your charger can grow along with your EV.
“As new vehicle models and charging technologies emerge, OCPP 2.0.1 ensures your car always ‘speaks the same language’ as the charger,” said Manuel Trotta, Allego’s head of mobility solutions.
Allego partnered with Alpitronic, Hubject, and Ford to bring its cross-network Plug & Charge to life.
Read more: Waffle House is getting DC fast chargers – and it’s a genius move
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Environment
The Kia PV5 is a real-life Transformer: Here’s our first look at it as an electric truck
Kia is looking to shake things up with its new custom-tailored Platform Beyond Vehicles (PBVs). The PV5, Kia’s first electric van based on the platform, is already showing how versatile it is. After the PV5 was spotted for the first time with an open bed, Kia looks about ready to drop an electric truck variant.
Is Kia launching an electric truck PV5 variant?
At the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Kia revealed its PBV strategy for the first time. The vehicles are designed as “total mobility solutions” that combine fit-for-purpose EVs with Hyundai’s latest software and tech.
Kia’s PBVs are based on Hyundai’s new ultra-flexible E-GMP.S EV platform, which can be custom-tailored for different uses. The first EV based on the platform, the PV5, launched earlier this year in the UK in two variations, Cargo and Passenger.
The Passenger model is fairly self-explanatory as a personal, everyday van, while the Cargo version is designed for commercial use.
Kia said more variants were on the way, including a refrigerated truck, chassis cab, open-bed, luxury “Prime” passenger, and sliding truck models.
The open-bed variant was recently captured driving in Korea, giving us our first look at the Kia PV5 as an electric truck.
Although brief, the video from HealerTV, taken as the vehicle was driving by, reveals a few new details. It’s our closest look at the open-bed variant so far.
Like other PV5 variants, it appears to be the same up front. In fact, it’s almost identical to the first teaser Kia showed.
It’s hard to tell from a video, but the reporter mentioned the electric truck “seemed like it was just the right size.” Since the PV5 Passenger is 4,695 mm in length, 1,895 mm in width, and 1,899 mm in height, we can expect it to be about the same size. To give you a better idea, it’s slightly smaller than the Volkswagen ID.Buzz SWB.
More variants on the way
The electric truck, or open-bed variant, comes after we saw the PV5 “Conversion,” which will feature new models, including a light camper and a camper van.
We got a preview of the camper van after Kia revealed two new “Spielraum” PV5 concepts, including one with a refrigerator, microwave oven, and even a wine cellar. And then we got a look at the PV5 “WKNDR,” an “adventure-ready” electric van concept. Kia’s electric van even has a wheelchair-friendly version, the PV5 WAV.
What’s next? Kia plans to launch a full range of electric vans. Next up will be the larger PV7 in 2027, followed by the PV9 in 2029. There’s also a smaller PV1, expected to arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.
In the future, Kia plans ot launch a Robotaxi model through a collaboration with Motional. All PBV models will be built at Kia’s Hwaseong EVO plant in South Korea. The facility can build up to 150,000 vehicles annually.
Kia said its goal is to “design PBVs that are simple and intuitive to operate and engage with, regardless of where, when or how they are used.” In other words, Kia wants to make your life easier, “Whether the purpose of the vehicle is to transport people, move goods, or meet logistics or personal mobility needs.”
In the UK, the PV5 Passenger and Cargo models start at £32,995 ($44,000) and £27,645 ($37,000), respectively.
It’s available with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, offering WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo version gets slightly more range with 181 miles or 247 miles, respectively.
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