Automotive News Europe - June 2019 - 21

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

EVENTS

Polestar CEO has ambitious
design objective for Volvo's
electrified subsidiary
DOUGLAS A. BOLDUC
dbolduc@autonew.com

olestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath
doesn't just want his brand to re-define what an electric vehicle looks like.
He says the Volvo subsidiary should
"drive the progress of car design in general" within the automotive industry.
Ingenlath has the skillset to make this
happen. In his dual role as chief design
officer for the Volvo Car Group, his styling influence played a crucial role in the
XC60 SUV winning the 2018 World Car
of the Year award and the XC40 SUV winning the 2018 European Car of the Year.
Ingenlath has another mission for the
2-year-old stand-alone premium electrified brand, which aims to have its
first model, the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe, in customers' hands before
year-end. He wants Polestar to provide
a "seamless and hassle-free experience" to customers, Ingenlath told the
Automotive News Congress in Gothen-

burg. To reach this goal Polestar will offer
Google's Android operating system embedded into the car.
"You will not have to adapt to a different
navigation, you just use Google Maps,"
Ingenlath said.
Another convenience the brand plans to
offer is to pick up a Polestar model when
it needs service and to return it to the
customer's home or workplace when finished. "With that we will help bring back
the joy and fun of owning and driving a
car," Ingenlath said.
When asked about the brand's plans to
get its models in front of potential customers, Ingenlath said the first Polestar
Space where employees will inform customers about the company's products
but will not receive a commission for
closing a sale would open this autumn in
Oslo, Norway.
The second will follow soon after in Beijing. By the second quarter of 2020 Ingenlath wants there to be a total of 50

Jaguar will press on with
I-Pace's design advantage
NICK GIBBS

ngibbs@crain.com

aguar's early entry into electric vehicles with the I-Pace gave it an opportunity to create a stand-out design before
EVs start to look very similar, the brand's
design chief, Ian Callum, said. Jaguar will
continue to press its design advantage
by developing more electric cars, Callum
told the Automotive News Europe Congress in Gothenburg.

and not bits of metal so there are opportunities," Callum said. For example, the
lack of an engine means the occupants
can be moved further toward the front
to give the car a more cab-forward look
similar to midengined supercars. The
differentiation that allows the I-Pace to
stand out will not last long because de-

Polestar Space locations open for business. "We are in full swing finding the
right locations and getting the contracts
ANE
signed," he said.
signs inevitably will be dictated by the
battery layout, Callum said. The I-Pace's
so-called "skateboard" platform with the
batteries packaged in a relatively thick
floor required the wheels to be pushed
to the edges of the car.
In the future, EV wheelbases will get
longer to accommodate more batteries.
"We know that because we are doing
more of them [EVs]," Callum said, without being specific.
Much of the freedom Callum had when
designing the car was because neither
the model or segment existed previously. "If this had existed I would have had
the dimensions given to me," he said.
Despite this freedom, the car still had to
conform to Jaguar's values. "When you
design a Jaguar the first function is performance and then beauty. I see beauty
as a function," Callum said. "I don't buy
into the notion that electric cars have to
look strange and funky, or different for
the sake of it. This car looks different for
the right reasons -- because of the way it
ANE
is designed."

"There is certainly an opportunity in the
near-future and mid-future because ultimately electric cars will look very similar
since their underpinnings are very similar," he said. Electric cars are liberated
from the traditional format of an engine
in the front, transmission in the middle
and driveshaft at the rear. "You have to
package the electric motor, invertor and
the battery but they are joined by wires
Callum doesn't believe an EV has to
"look strange and funky."
JUNE 2019

Polestar CEO Ingenlath wants to put
some joy back into owning a car.

Photos: Lars Ardarve
www.autonewseurope.com

http://www.autonewseurope.com

Automotive News Europe - June 2019

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