ALTHOUGH a convertible with a folding onerous prime isn’t often the primary kind of BEV that can spring to thoughts, Polestar has unveiled the svelte and slinky O2 idea. The contours of the Swedish premium model’s creation show the good thing about a compactly packaged electrical platform.
GoAuto not too long ago reported that the agency’s R&D workforce within the UK was refining the upcoming Polestar 5’s bespoke bonded-aluminium platform, which it had developed in-house. The O2’s “tight physique management, excessive rigidity and intuitive dynamics are inherent advantages of that platform,” Polestar mentioned.
Impressed by the Principle idea automobile, the Polestar O2 demonstrates how the model’s evolving design language could be tailored to totally different physique kinds with out diverging from the familial look. The low and extensive physique with an assertive stance, compact 2+2 cabin design, minimal overhangs and a protracted wheelbase, embody traditional sports activities automobile proportions however with a contemporary, electrical really feel.
“Polestar O2 is the hero automobile for our model,” Polestar chief government officer Thomas Ingenlath mentioned. “It is a style of what we will design and engineer with the expertise and expertise we’ve in home. Having the ability to decrease the roof and never hear an engine guarantees (to be) an excellent sensation.”
The idea automobile’s aerodynamics have been manipulated to maximise battery vary due to disguised design options comparable to built-in ducts that enhance laminar air movement over the wheels and physique sides, and the taillights that operate as air blades to scale back turbulence behind the automobile.
In the meantime, the rigidity of the bonded aluminium platform is alleged to intensify the Polestar O2’s dynamic responses. “Dealing with dynamics (profit from) small roll angles and excessive roll damping, and the agile, direct steering really feel is linear, with nice steering torque build-up,” the model says.
The idea automobile additionally incorporates a brand new technique of controlling recycled content material. Every grade of aluminium used within the chassis is labelled accordingly, to allow them to be recycled extra successfully. Excessive-grade aluminium stays excessive grade, whereas different grades “keep their traits, permitting for better materials effectivity and a decrease requirement for virgin aluminium.”
A brand new thermoplastic mono-material (a single base materials is used to fabricate totally different parts) options extensively within the Polestar O2’s inside, whereas recycled polyester is the only materials used for all of the delicate parts of the inside: foam, adhesive, 3D knit fibres and non-woven lamination. This simplifies recycling and is a big step in the direction of better circularity.
Seeing because the Polestar O2 is an idea automobile, it wants an attention-grabbing MacGuffin and, on this case, it’s an autonomous cinematic drone built-in behind the automobile’s rear seats. Developed in collaboration with Aerofugia’s shopper electronics model Hoco Circulation, “the idea drone could be deployed whereas the automobile is shifting, to document the right driving sequence,” Polestar mentioned.
Polestar engineers have developed a specialised aerofoil that raises behind the rear seats to create a peaceful space of damaging strain that enables the drone to take off when the automobile’s shifting.
The drone operates autonomously, routinely following the automobile at speeds as much as 90km/h, and the driving force can select between, say, an atmospheric sequence or a extra action-filled sequence with a sportier expression. After filming, the drone can autonomously return to the automobile. Video clips could be edited and shared immediately from the 15.0-inch centre show when the automobile is parked.
Polestar plans to introduce a brand new BEV yearly for the subsequent three years, beginning with the Polestar 3 SUV later in 2022. The Polestar 4 – ostensibly a compact SUV coupe – will observe in 2023 and, the yr after that, the Polestar 5 four-door GT, which can successfully be the manufacturing model of the Principle idea. The O2 idea will stay a design research, for now, anyway.
