Belgian athlete Nafissatou 'Nafi' Thiam pictured with a Polestar vehicle at the Zoute Grand Prix Car Week, in Knokke, October 7, 2021.
(Photo : KURT DESPLENTER/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
The upcoming Polestar 5 electric sports sedan will ride on an all-new platform, offering the saloon with supercar levels of body stiffness, according to Stuff. Polestar is currently developing the platform at a new engineering base in Warwickshire, England.
According to vehicle engineering director Steve Swift, the 5 saloon is the first Polestar vehicle to be developed in the United Kingdom. It is also the first car to be "developed by Polestar for Polestar" as this vehicle is not derived from a Volvo base.
Polestar U.K. chief engineer Dave Kane said the Polestar 5's body is constructed mainly from bonded aluminum, with other sections made from die-cast, cold-formed, extruded, and hot-formed aluminum. The body's bonded aluminum construction gives the Polestar 5 "supercar levels of torsional stiffness," which, according to Kane, is fundamental to the electric vehicle's "class-leading ride and handling dynamics."
Polestar 5 to get supercar handling
Polestar U.K. research and development boss Pete Allen added that the Polestar 5's goal is to "deliver best-in-class levels of dynamics." Allen believes that the car's structure starts with the 5 electric sports saloon's body offering "carbon fibre levels of torsional stiffness, like a two-door sports model."
Discussions are already underway within the Polestar camp to determine exactly how to tune the stiff underpinnings of the 5 sedan to give the car a dynamic character. Swift said, "It's still to be confirmed where it sits." He added that the Polestar team is looking for sophistication with the 5.
Swift explained this more in detail, saying, "If you have a vehicle that rides well and is relatively isolated from road noise, and then you get the handling right, you will appeal to those who love driving and also those who just like driving the car without articulating it."
As per AutoCar, Swift added that the Polestar 5 needs to be engaging but comfortable, a belief he shares with the Chinese-Swedish manufacturer, who wants to create a vehicle with a rounded edge but with more everyday compliance.
Swift believes Polestar can push the 5 electric sedan in a "dynamic direction or a comfort direction without totally sacrificing one or the other." Other developments in the Polestar 5 include a slippery body shape and motorsport-derived underbody aerodynamics.
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Polestar 5 largely similar to the Precept concept car
Polestar is keeping under wraps the battery and powertrain details of the 5, but the company did reveal that prototype testing of the much-awaited electric vehicle is already underway in the U.K. as well as in the Arctic Circle. Performance levels of the Polestar 5 are expected to be impressive given its range-topping position in the automaker's line-up.
Fans of the Precept concept car that Polestar unveiled in February 2020 will be delighted to learn that the company's engineers have managed to maintain that look for the 5 sedan through to production.
Allen said that both cars look "pretty much identical" and that they used their ability to deliver cars as close as they possibly could to the designs of Polestar CEO and designer Thomas Ingenlath.
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