Perhaps only a small percentage of Ars readers will care about the Polestar 2030 concept, debuted today by the electric automaker. Spun out of Volvo—once upon a time, Polestar was a racing team—the brand has leveraged the resources of parent-automaker Geely to create electric vehicles that marry a modern minimalist style with rewarding driving dynamics. But you now can’t buy any Polestars in the US, since Geely is Chinese, and banning Chinese-owned car brands enjoys remarkable bipartisan support in Congress.
The Formula 2030 is about the same length as a Polestar 2 but with a very low roofline. If anything, the two-box shape reminds me of the Saab Aero-X, one of the final concepts from the then-terminal Swedish automaker. (In many ways, Polestar has adopted Saab’s mantle.)
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Polestar
These rear lights will show up in production Polestars.
In 2008, Saab showed off the Aero-X concept.
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Scott Barbour/Getty Images
Polestar says the concept fits into its own segment somewhere between the next Polestar 2 and the Polestar 7—it numbers its cars chronologically (mostly), not based on size—although it’s not saying if the hatchback design will go into series production. Successfully packaging rear-seat passengers and a lithium-ion battery pack is something a concept needn’t worry about, after all. Rather, it’s a styling exercise, or more than one.