2022 Polestar 2 detailed ahead of Australian launch: Volvo's electric- and sustainability-focused spin-off brand to take fight to Tesla Model 3 with three variants

Polestar Australia has confirmed the brand will bring all three variants of its Polestar 2 coupe-SUV Down Under later this year.

The Polestar 2’s three variants include the entry-level Standard Range Single Motor, the mid-spec Long Range Single Motor, and top-spec Long Range Dual Motor.

While Polestar is yet to lock in pricing, CarsGuide understands the Standard Range Single Motor has allowed the brand’s local division a competitive entry point to rival EVs from Tesla and BMW. “Reference pricing” in Europe has the Polestar variants landing between the equivalent of $71,663 and $81,113, but that does not include local duties, landing, taxes, or compliance costs.

Polestars will be able to be purchased solely online, in a process the brand says takes “around an hour.”

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The entry-level car will still be a premium offering, sporting a large 64kWh lithium-ion battery pack good for at least 420km of range on the WLTP cycle, with its single-motor outputs at 165kW/330Nm.

The mid-spec Long Range Single Motor has a 78kWh battery pack good for at least a 515km range on the WLTP cycle, with its motor upgraded to 170kW/330Nm, while the top-spec dual-motor shares the same battery pack, but nearly double the performance, able to make use of 300kW/660Nm, although its range is reduced to 450km.

Polestar confirmed all variants of the coupe SUV will arrive in Australia for its launch.

There are three option packs available for the Polestar 2 variants in Europe, although it is unclear whether these will be available on Australian cars, or if standard specification will be increased for our market.

Polestar is very keen to make its point of difference sustainability, and to that end has just released updated and publicly available lifecycle assessment reports. The new reports have a revised methodology and expand in scope to include the newly launched base single-motor variant.

According to the report, Polestar says compared to an equivalent model – the example given being a non-hybrid Volvo XC40 – a Standard Range Single Motor variant - using an average global mix of power sources to charge - will need to be driven 79,000km before it breaks even on carbon emissions, while the long-range variant will need to travel 86,000km, and the top-spec dual-motor will need to travel 110,000km.

The report goes so far as to breakdown the carbon footprint related to the manufacture of components, and recycling predicted for the end-of-life period for each vehicle. Interestingly, the report notes that when charged with solely renewables as can be done in some jurisdictions in the world, the single-motor variant produces a total 25 tonnes of CO2 over its life cycle, compared to the non-hybrid XC40’s 58 tonnes.

Prospective owners can see the complete lifecycle carbon footprint broken down for each Polestar 2 variant.

Polestar’s debut model in Australia will compete against the Tesla Model 3, BMW i4, Jaguar I-Pace and, before long, the Audi Q4 e-tron. Its Audi and BMW rivals are also talking large on sustainability and share plans to release lifecycle assessment reports and make more extensive use of recycled materials in their vehicles.

The Polestar 2 will be available to Australians in Q4 of this year, and will be sourced from a facility in China, where the brand can make use of production chain synergies with its Geely parent company. Expect more detail on price and options in the coming weeks.