Polestar is opening its first sales space in Scotland.
The fully-electric car maker is a subsidiary of Volvo.
It currently produces the very impressive Polestar 2. The end of this year should see the launch of the Polestar 3, an electric SUV.
Over the next few years the company will release – you guessed it – the Polestar 4, Polestar 5 and Polestar 6.
Polestar Glasgow will be located in the Silverburn Shopping Centre. It isn’t expected to open until later in the year. However for the time being there is a popup sales space there with a car on display.
Potential customers can book a test drive. They needn’t fear getting the hard sell either. Polestar staff do not work on commission and are there to provide information and guidance only.
Polestar in the Arctic Circle
Last week I travelled to the Arctic Circle to see a Polestar retail centre with a difference.
The Polestar Space in Lapland is made entirely from snow.
The cube shaped building, inspired by the Polestar HQ in Gothenburg, Sweden is situated in the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Polestar took around 3,000 cubic meters of snow from the local Ounasvaara ski resort.
It was transferred into Rovaniemi on electric trucks and will be returned to the ski resort once the Space is taken down in a few weeks’ time.
Standing 12 metres high, it sits in Kansalaistori square in Rovaniemi, alongside iconic buildings by famous Finnish designer and advocate for modern architecture, Alvar Aalto.
Built in temperatures that were well below zero, the Space has two-metre thick walls of snow.
It isn’t just for show either. Polestar staff are on hand – wearing very warm clothing – and potential customers can explore and test drive the Polestar 2.
The company has come a long way over the few years of its existence. Last year saw its best ever performance in the UK market, with sales up by 80%.
There are now more than 12,000 Polestars on UK roads. The Polestar 2 is the seventh best-selling electric car in the UK and the third best-selling premium EV.
After having driven around 1,000 miles all over Scotland in one, on my visit I did some cold weather driving on a specially constructed track made out of snow.
Look out for a write up on that in our Wednesday Motoring section soon.
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