Volvo's Polestar Introduces Electric Car To Challenge Tesla
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The Polestar 2 is all-new, all-electric and is meant to compete against the Tesla Model 3, which is the best-selling electric car in the U.S.
Polestar is Volvo's electric performance brand. KPIX 5 got a preview of the Polestar 2 before its North American debut in San Francisco on Wednesday.
The car has two electric motors, a range of 275 miles, 408 horsepower and can go from 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds.
"The Polestar 2 is [for] people actually looking to move into the electric vehicle, but at the same time, they want that sense of performance, that sense of excitement about the car, while at the same time having all the benefits that come with electric," said Polestar COO Jonathan Goodman.
The Polestar 2 is also the first car in the world powered by Google's Android operating system.
"Polestar 2 is a major milestone for overall automotive industry and there's a couple different reasons. One is this is probably the first car that's going to have Google Maps and Google Assistant running in a car," said Haris Ramic, Lead Product Manager at Google for Android Automotive.
That means the apps are built-in instead of running off a connected smartphone. They can also be controlled by voice.
The car is available for pre-order online with a $1,000 deposit and will go into production in early 2020 in China. The first U.S. cars will be available by summer next year and will sell between $40,000 and $65,000.
"We're part and parcel of a Volvo platform. Volvo--the whole mark of Volvo is safety, and all the traditional Volvo traits of safety are incorporated into this car," added Goodman.
