Polestar’s new electric SUV, the Polestar 4, is set to hit the Korean market in June, Hyundai and Kia’s home turf.
The new fully electric “SUV Coupe” is making its debut in key global markets. Polestar 4 production began in mid-November in China.
By the end of 2023, Polestar said it delivered its first 880 models to customers. Earlier this year, Polestar introduced its new electric SUV in Europe and Australia. In Europe, the Polestar 4 starts at EUR 63,200 ($68,500), and in Australia, it will cost you AUD 81,500 ($53,700).
Polestar’s new electric SUV made its North American debut at the NY Auto Show last month. The automaker announced Polestar 4 prices will start at $56,300 in the US with up to 300 miles range.
That’s less than the expected $60,000 price target. The base, Long Range Single Motor variant features 272 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque for a 0 to 60 mph time in 7.4 seconds.
Polestar 4 trim
Starting Price (including $1,400 destination fee)
Range (expected EPA-est)
Long Range Single Motor
$56,300
300 mi
Long Range Dual Motor
$64,300
270 mi
Long Range Dual Motor model (with Plus and Performance packs)
$74,300
270 mi
Polestar 4 price and range by trim
The more powerful Long Range Dual Motor variant starts at $64,300 with up to 270 miles range. It packs 544 hp and 506 lb-ft of torque for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in 3.7 seconds.
With the added Plus and Performance packages, Polestar 4 prices can run upwards of $74,300. Other optional packages include Pilot (+$1,500) and Pro (+$2,000).
Polestar 4 (Source: Polestar)
The Polestar 4 is expected to compete with Tesla’s best-selling Model Y (although Polestar does not see Tesla as its competition) and the new Porsche Macan. Now, Polestar’s new electric SUV is about to hit Hyundai and Kia’s home market.
Polestar’s new electric SUV to take on Hyundai and Kia
Polestar already announced it would contract manufacture the 4 in a Busan, South Korea factory last year.
Renault Korea Motors owns the plant, which is its largest plant in Asia. Polestar’s 4 will be the first EV built at the facility and will be produced for the Korean and North American markets.
Polestar 4 (Source: Polestar)
Polestar announced on Friday that it will launch its new electric SUV in Korea in June. Deliveries are expected to kick off in October.
“We are working on various preparatory measures such as certification, and we will do our best to launch (the vehicle) in June and deliver it to (customers) in October.”
The Polestar 4 will be the second electric SUV to hit the Korean market, following the Polestar 3. One of the most unique features is the Polestar 4’s lack of a rear window.
Polestar 4 (Source: Polestar)
Polestar says this helps maximize interior space while providing a sleek silhouette. The vehicle’s camera system gives a clear view of its surroundings, including the rear.
With a 100 kWh battery, Polestar aims for the electric SUV to offer up to 379 miles (610 km) WLTP driving range.
Prices have yet to be revealed, but Polestar’s new electric SUV is expected to easily top Hyundai and Kia electric models at over $55,000.
Electrek’s Take
In 2023, Hyundai and Kia accounted for over 90% of domestic car production in Korea. Hyundai had 52% of the share, while Kia had 39%. Both automakers’ sales increased, with Hyundai’s up 10.6% and Kia’s advancing 4.6% year over year.
Meanwhile, Polestar is a premium EV maker with a niche market. Polestar is not expected to sell millions of vehicles, but it could rival top models like the Kia EV9 or the upcoming Hyundai IONIQ 9.
Korea is a key market for luxury automakers like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. It is among the top three Asia markets for global luxury brands. For example, around 34,000 vehicles priced over $108,000 (150 million Won) were sold last year, according to KAIDA and industry figures.
However, a new government rule requiring company cars worth over $58,000 to wear a bright neon green license plate is turning away buyers.
Luxury car sales have fallen by 27% since the new law was introduced in January. Can Polestar make its presence known in the region? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
One of the largest electric bike brands in the US, Aventon, has recently shared several details about the company’s response to US tariffs on imported goods. The details reveal insight into how large e-bike makers are coping with the major disruption caused by the trade war launched by the Trump administration.
In a comprehensive post, Aventon covered the company’s response to several issues, from supply chain disruptions to manufacturing shifts to pricing policy.
Shift in manufacturing away from China
Like many e-bike brands, as Trump’s threats to cripple US imports from China grew, the company began focusing on alternative manufacturing locations. Despite being based in China and enjoying something of a home field advantage, the impact of potentially heavy tariffs threatened to offset the benefits of China’s lower-cost manufacturing and close proximity to the e-bike component supply chain.
Other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand are seen as prime locations to shift e-bike manufacturing outside of China. Ironically, many of the new bicycle factories opened in these countries are actually Chinese-owned, built as investments by the very factory owners who anticipated a manufacturing shift brought on by tariffs initiated during the first Trump administration and increasingly hostile American rhetoric towards China.
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However, moving manufacturing outside of China comes with increasing costs and complexities beyond mere labor and investment in local manufacturing expertise. “The lack of localized suppliers means critical parts (e.g., motors, batteries) still often come from China,” explained Aventon. “This creates a logistical puzzle: components are shipped to Southeast Asia for assembly, then transported to the U.S. This multi-step process adds 50+ days to shipment times compared to direct manufacturing in China.”
Pricing could still take a hit
While the tariffs on other countries pale in comparison to the current 170% tariffs on Chinese e-bikes (145% retaliatory tariffs on top of 25% Section 301 tariffs), there’s no guarantee that tariffs on e-bikes from countries like Vietnam and Thailand will remain comparatively low. The current tariff on e-bikes from countries other than China sits at a minimum of 10%, but those could rise this summer after a 90-day pause granted by the Trump administration ends without a new negotiated deal or backtrack from the administration.
Those tariffs, Aventon made clear, are not paid by the countries who produce the goods, but rather by the companies who import them, and then ultimately by American consumers. “Tariffs are paid by importers during customs clearance before products reach the U.S. soil. These costs typically trickle down to consumers through price adjustments,” Aventon explained.
For now, Aventon has committed to keeping costs as low as possible by absorbing the increase in costs. “In early 2025, we proactively shifted 100% of our production to Thailand, investing in factory partnerships by sending Aventon key stakeholders from the production, quality control, and industrial engineering teams. While this transition increased our manufacturing and logistics costs by 10-15%, we’ve chosen to absorb many of these expenses.”
The brand cited sensitivity to inflation in the US causing an increase in living costs as one of the key reasons it intends to absorb the current price increases, which Aventon says aligns with its long-term vision of “keeping electric bikes accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford premium pricing.”
Can e-bikes be produced in the US?
For its part, Aventon won’t be bringing production of its electric bikes to the US anytime soon, citing a lack of domestic supply for critical components and the heavy tariffs applied to those components.
However, the company doesn’t rule out the possibility for e-bike assembly to occur on a smaller scale if tariffs are lifted, potentially as a precursor to true manufacturing in the future.
“Unfortunately, there is no supply chain of e-bike components here in the US and all key components are imposed with significant tariffs coming from China. Having e-bikes made in the US is not practical unless the parts tariffs are lifted. Then assembly first, followed by key components manufacturing in the long run, is possible.”
Electrek’s Take
There are a few things to unpack here. First of all, Aventon is right. Electric bike manufacturing isn’t coming to the US. While the company correctly cited the lack of a domestic supply chain as a key issue, what they perhaps wisely left unsaid is that the world experts on building bicycles currently live in China. Unless someone is going to invest millions in infrastructure to build factories and then pay the millions more it will take to train and payroll a new bicycle-building workforce, then it just isn’t going to happen.
Yes, small-scale bicycle building is happening in the US. Electric Bike Company in Newport Beach, California, is a prime example. They deserve all the respect in the world for building e-bikes in the US for years, long before tariffs were an issue. However, the most important components for their e-bikes come from China, and I don’t see how they can survive without raising prices substantially to cover the near-tripling cost of the most important components. And if they raise prices, then that’s another threat to their future.
Next, there’s something ironic about a Chinese-owned e-bike company telling Americans that it will keep prices lower because it knows Americans are already hurting financially. If the Murica crowd were ever to do some reflecting, this might be the time. There’s nothing wrong with being patriotic and wanting your country to succeed, but if the other country you’re trying to spite feels sympathy for you and thinks you need help, perhaps the “America First” policies aren’t working the way it was hoped.
And lastly, keep in mind that this is all extremely volatile and fluid. There is absolutely no stability in the e-bike market right now, nor larger global trade. This entire global financial tailspin was sent into action by the whims of one geriatric firebrand, and it can change just as quickly. Trump could decide to reduce tariffs on China tomorrow to prevent supply crises in the US, or he could double down and put similar embargo-level tariffs on countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. It could literally go either way in a single day, or it could stagnate for months, with recent events showing us that both possibilities could be just as likely. The point being, this is the situation today, but no one knows what could come tomorrow.
Ooof – I need to go for a bike ride.
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Capable of delivering up to 1,200 kW of power to get electric commercial trucks back on the road in minutes, the new ABB MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System is part of an ecosystem of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) that ABB’s bringing to this year’s ACT Expo.
UPDATE 03MAY2025: ABB reads Electrek (see above).
So, in fun news, the team at ABB reads Electrek (as they should), and were eager to talk to us about that “Goldilocks” post about matching charge time to the preferred customer experience. That idea isn’t just something ABB can get on board with – it’s at the core of their new, modular EV charging infrastructure.
“With our new interface, we make it easy to customize the charging experience for the CPO and the customer,” explained an ABB engineer, who walked me through the new EVSE’s backend on the show floor (paraphrased). “The users can pay with a card, with an app, or an RFID – and you can program what that experience is like, even prioritizing certain members or giving others free or discounted charging.”
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There’s a lot to unpack there, including the ability to provide priority charging to certain vehicles (like police or emergency service EVs) to get them back on the road faster. In the next few days, we’ll have ABB President, Brandt Hastings, on Quick Charge to walk us through more of those features and how they come together to deliver a better charging experience.
Stay tuned for that, and check out the original article, below.
New 1.2 MW truck charger; via ABB.
ABB E-mobility is using the annual clean trucking conference to showcase the expansion of its EVSE portfolio with three all-new charger families: the field-upgradable A200/300 All-in-One chargers, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System for heavy-duty vehicles shown (above), and the ChargeDock Dispenser for flexible depot charging.
The company said its new product platform was built by applying a computer system-style domain separation to charger design, fundamentally improving subsystem development and creating a clear path forward for site and system expansion. In other words, ABB is selling a system with both future-proofing and enhanced dependability baked in.
“We have built a system by logically separating a charger into four distinct subsystems … each functioning as an independent subsystem,” explains Michael Halbherr, CEO of ABB E-mobility. “Unlike conventional chargers, where a user interface failure can disable the entire system, our architecture ensures charging continues even if the screen or payment system encounters issues. Moreover, we can improve each subsystem at its own pace without having to change the entire system.”
The parts of ABB’s new EVSE portfolio that have been made public so far have already been recognized for design excellence, with the A400 winning the iF Gold Award and both the A400 and C50 receiving Red Dot Design Awards.
New ABB chargers seem pretty, good
ABB’s good-looking family; via ABB.
ABB says the systemic separation of its EVSE enhances both reliability and quality, while making deployed chargers easier to diagnose and repair, in less time. Each of the chargers’ subsystems can be tested, diagnosed, and replaced independently, allowing for quick on-site repairs and update cycles tailored to the speed of each systems’ innovation. The result is 99% uptime and a more future-proof product.
“The EV charging landscape is evolving beyond point products for specific use cases,” continued Halbherr. “By implementing this modular approach with the majority of our R&D focused on modular platforms rather than one-off products … it reduces supply chain risks, while accelerating development cycles and enabling deeper collaboration with critical suppliers.”
Key markets ABB is chasing
HVC 360 Charge Dock Dispenser depot deployment; via ABB.
PUBLIC CHARGING – with the award winning A400 being the optimal fit for high power charging from highway corridors to urban locations, the latest additions to the A-Series All-in-One chargers offer a field-upgradable architecture allowing operators to start with the A200 (200kW) with the option to upgrade to 300kW or 400kW as demand grows. This approach offers scalability and protects customer investment, leading to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings over 10 years.
PUBLIC TRANSIT AND FLEET – the new Charge Dock Dispenser – in combination with the already in market available HVC 360 – simplifies depot charging with a versatile solution that supports pantograph-, roof-, and pedestal charging options with up to 360kW of shared power and 150m/490 ft installation flexibility between cabinet and dispensers. The dispenser maintains up to 500A output.
HEAVY TRUCKS – building the matching charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles and fleets represents a critical innovation frontier on our journey to electrify transportation. Following extensive collaboration with industry-leading truck OEMs, the MCS1200 Megawatt Charging System delivers up to 1,200kW of continuous power — 20% more energy transfer than 1MW systems — providing heavy-duty vehicles with purpose-built single-outlet design for the energy they need during mandatory driver breaks. To support other use cases, such as CCS truck charging, a dual CCS and MCS option will also be available.
ABB says that the result of its new approach are chargers that offer 99% plus uptime — a crucial statistic for commercial charging operations and a key factor to ensuring customer satisfaction. The new ABB E-mobility EVSE product family will be on display for the first time at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo (ACT Expo) in Anaheim, California next week, then again at Power2Drive in Munich, Germany, from May 7-9.
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“Honda hydrogen is open for business,” says David Perzynski, assistant manager of hydrogen solutions development at American Honda. “(We have) the fuel cell technology, the expertise, and the supply chain to power a variety of zero-emissions products, including commercial trucking and stationary power generation.”
The company arrived with a more developed version of its Peterbilt 579EV-based HFC semi concept, which is based on one of that brand’s existing BEVs and uses the Honda fuel cell as a range-extending generator for its 120 kWh battery … or, rather, it would – if it was ever plugged into a charger.
On battery power alone, the big Pete is good for up to 150 miles of fully loaded range. With the fuel cell along for the piggyback ride, however, the truck’s range climbs to more than 500 miles at an 82,000 lb. combined vehicle weight.
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More than just a range-extender
Honda envisions a world where its hydrogen fuel cell is used in much more than transportation and logistics applications. At the ACT Expo, Honda had a scale mock-up of what a hospital-sized hydrogen backup generator could look like – and hinted that such an installation might soon become a reality.
This is all very normal for Honda
Honda FCX hydrogen fuel cell concept; via Honda.
If it seems weird that Honda is pushing hydrogen so hard these days, it shouldn’t. Honda’s been developing hydrogen fuel cells for nearly forty years, and put its first hydrogen fuel cell car (the FCX concept, above) all the way back in 1999.
Since then, it’s put a number of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles into series production, including the innovative Honda CR-V HFC hybrid that lets you fill the car’s 17.7 kWh battery with electrons at home for up to 29 miles of all-electric driving, then fill up the hydrogen tank for another 241 miles of driving … and they’re not stopping there.
We had a chance to chat with David Perzynski on Quick Charge last year, where he talked us through some of Honda’s hydrogen plans in more detail. You can check it out, below.