Forget the Tesla Roadster, Polestar is “benchmarking Porsche” in the development of the 2026 Polestar 6.
The 2026 Polestar 6 might be almost four years away from landing in Australia, but Polestar is already teasing some enticing details about the electric roadster’s potential performance capabilities.
The electric carmaker is hoping to rival Porsche with its upcoming convertible, which will be based on its O2 electric roadster concept and will feature a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive set-up and target a 0–100km/h sprint time of 3.2 seconds.
“We’re benchmarking this dynamically against a Porsche,” Edward Trinh, Polestar Australia’s Product Planning Manager, revealed at a Melbourne event showcasing the Polestar electric roadster concept.
“[The] 911, the Taycan – they’re the types of cars we’re looking at. We believe they’re the benchmarks in the industry for vehicle dynamics.”
Mr Trinh said Polestar’s Sweden-based research and development team was “incredibly serious” about ensuring the car offered optimal driving dynamics.
“Speaking to the R&D team, we got a bit of insider information from the head of vehicle dynamics for this vehicle [that] they’re looking [into] trick suspension systems.
“They’re incredibly serious about it. It needs to handle. Vehicle dynamics is our background, we don’t forget about that heritage.”
Polestar, which is now owned by Chinese behemoth Geely, began its life as a racing team, before becoming the performance tuning arm of Sweden’s Volvo Cars. It was spun off into its own all-electric brand in 2017.
Currently only in concept form, the Polestar 6 – Polestar’s fifth high-volume production car – will enter production in 2026, with all 500 first-run build slots already snapped up.
A small handful of Australian buyers nabbed a build slot for the limited-run ‘LA Edition’ Polestar 6, which is expected to be priced from US$200,000 (AUD$298,927 at time of publishing), with an initial US$20,000 (AUD$29,827) deposit required.
Other targeted specifications for the production version of Polestar 6, which are subject to change, include a top speed of 250km/h, 650kW of peak power, 900Nm of peak torque, and over 600km of WLTP electric range.
That suggests it will have a battery with a similar density to the 2023 Polestar 3 SUV, which is also targeting 600km of range and boasts a 111kWh battery pack.
The production Polestar 6, which will feature two doors and four seats, will also be built on an aluminium unibody that offers maximum strength and rigidity while remaining lightweight.
“This type of body you’d most likely see on a McLaren or a Lotus,” Mr Trinh said.
“It’s different grades of high-quality aluminium bonded together with adhesive and then baked in an oven – that allows for the strength to weight ratio [to be] really impressive.”
The unibody will be shared with the 2024 Polestar 5 electric sedan, but it can be easily adapted for future models.
“All the grades of aluminium are labelled, so it’s easy to recycle,” Mr Trinh said of the unibody platform.
This sustainability focus is likely to extend to the interior of the Polestar 6 too – with a focus on mono-materials that can be recycled in their entirety.
“It’s not just about carbon neutrality, it’s about circularity, so we’re making cars that are easier to service, easier to repair, easier to recycle,” Mr Trinh explained.
Aside from the folding hard-top roof, it’s not yet clear how much of the concept car’s design will carry over to the production version.
However, possible features include a 15-inch central touchscreen, steering-wheel-mounted switchgear, integrated speakers in the headrest, camera-augmented side mirrors, and an exterior light bar to show charging status.
As for that roof, there are no figures yet as to how quickly it can be raised and lowered, and whether it can be done while on the move.
“It’s a bit early stages yet. We don’t have a convertible to benchmark it against so I can’t give you a number, but I would say that as per usual Polestar tries to exceed everything,” Mr Trinh said of the folding roof.
The car’s exterior will be designed to maximise range by increasing aerodynamics, including a tail-light bar that doubles as a rear spoiler to reduce turbulence behind the car.
One thing that won’t make it to the production version is the in-built drone, which can theoretically be deployed while the car is moving to capture cinematic footage from above, before uploading it to the car’s infotainment system.
As for the all-important paint colours, unfortunately the eye-catching ‘Sky’ blue exterior paint is reserved exclusively for the special launch edition.
“They haven’t released the palette for it yet, all I know is that it’s going to come in snow, or a white of some sort,” Mr Trinh said.
While the first 500 launch edition units are limited-run, ensuing Polestar 6 production has no cap, and will be “demand-based”, Mr Trinh said.
The good news is: if you start saving now, you might just be able to afford the deposit in four years’ time.
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