Author: Knight Errant

On June 6, 2022, human beings discovered the evidence of amino acid exists outside the Earth for the first time. Based on Earth’s biology, proteins are the material basis for all life, and amino acids as its basic unit are regarded as the origin of life. Therefore, humans boldly speculated that life might really exist outside the Earth. If other planets and natural satellites also have amino acids, then life may be born in more places in the universe than previously thought.

The late physicist Mr. Hawking had six major predictions, one of which was the possible existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, and emphasized that if they could discover human civilization, their civilization level would be much higher than ours. Based on this prediction, scientists speculate that if extraterrestrial civilizations really exist, they are likely to have surpassed the wheel-using era.

Looking back at history, it always jumps forward. It always jumps onto unimaginable faults between us inadvertently. The same law applies to the history of automobiles. From the birth of “cars” announced by a German in 1886 by installing an internal combustion engine on a tricycle to the present day, it has been changing every day for more than 100 years. Although the daily changes are as small as nothing, the appearance of faults is an accumulation of technology that occurs inadvertently.

The tremendous change of automobile civilization is from the outside to the inside, and the revolutionary role is played by the latter. If abolishing steam engines and replacing them with internal combustion engines is the first industrial revolution of modern automobiles, then the increasingly prosperous era of pure electric vehicles will surely be defined as the second industrial revolution, and hydrogen-powered vehicles, which have already shown initial results, will probably become the third industrial revolution.

So, from a different perspective, under the tsunami-like trend of electrification, we are all the people who have experienced and witnessed the upgrade of automobile civilization, and we should feel honored and proud beyond words. Why not boldly imagine what kind of car we should choose to bid farewell to the fuel era?

It must be unique enough that even aliens or Ultraman can drive it without any sense of violation.

It must be cool and technological enough to live up to the word revolution.

It must be fast and environmentally friendly enough not to fall behind history, but to lead the future.

There are actually many cars that can meet the above conditions, such as Porsche’s Taycan, Lotus’s Eletre, GWM’s HiPhi Z, and the upcoming Polestar 5.

Although the performance of this high-performance electric vehicle brand established by Volvo and Geely has been mediocre in the Chinese market, with only two models launched since its establishment for nearly 5 years, it embodies the elegance and delicacy that other brands accustomed to extravagance cannot provide. Just as Rome was not built in a day, Polestar is also cultivating its own holy city.

In August 2020, overseas media reported that Polestar had expressed its desire to go public in the near future. Subsequently, at the Beijing Auto Show in September, Polestar officially showcased its new Precept concept car, demonstrating the brand’s future design direction and technological vision.

Today, over a year later, the Polestar 5 prototype, built based on the Precept concept car, will make its debut. On the eve of its debut, the official released a dynamic side view of the car. Its low stance and unruly design instantly struck a chord with my aesthetic sense.

With a long roofline and a short tail wing, it is positioned as a four-door GT coupe. With a wheelbase exceeding 3 meters and a brand new design, even Polestar 1 can only be regarded as its younger brother. Regrettably, the design of B-pillar-less and suicide doors was abandoned due to the consideration of vehicle rigidity and cost.

ExtremeStar 5 is not lacking in technological innovations. According to the official description, it will be built on a self-developed all-aluminum bonding platform, which has the advantages of lightweight, high stiffness, high performance, and environmental friendliness. Therefore, the white body weight of ExtremeStar 5 is expected to be lower than that of smaller cars, while still maintaining industry-leading safety indicators, greatly improving driving efficiency, range, and vehicle dynamic response.

On the Precept concept car, the human-computer interaction system is a new system developed in cooperation with Google. It is equipped with a native Android car system and can automatically recognize users through the ExtremeStar digital key function. Based on the user’s preferences and recent driving behavior, it can automatically complete related vehicle settings. In addition, inspired by Volvo, ExtremeStar also excels in environmental protection. Most of the materials in the car come from natural flax fiber composite materials, which are claimed to be 50% lighter than traditional interior components and can reduce plastic usage by 80%.

Of course, the simple and elegant interior design is ExtremeStar’s most recognizable brand language. Fortunately, the Precept concept car did not adopt the “virtual cockpit” design, so the combination of a small LCD instrument panel and a large center control touch screen on ExtremeStar 5 did not disappoint. Although it seems a bit outdated, there doesn’t seem to be a better solution.

Currently, the official power specifications of Polestar 5 have not been formally announced, but it is expected to be equipped with front and rear dual motors with a maximum power output of about 500Ps and a four-wheel drive system. Meanwhile, it will be equipped with a 100kWh battery pack and an 800V ultra-high voltage charging system, which can be charged to 80% within 10 minutes. The driving range is expected to reach 1000km.

According to Polestar’s official plan, Polestar 5 will be officially released and put on the market in 2024. In the meantime, they will also release a large SUV Polestar 3 (this October) and a mid-sized coupe SUV Polestar 4 (2023).

The reason why we spend all the space talking about this latest released Polestar 5 is that compared to Polestar 3 and Polestar 4, its design is more forward-looking and its technology is more technical. If one day electric cars will also exit the stage of history, Polestar 5 will surely leave a mark as an exemplary brand.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.