Supercar engineering for Polestar 5

UK-developed Porsche Taycan rival to get ultra-stiff platform and new battery tech

- MARK TISSHAW

The upcoming Polestar 5 electric sports saloon will get "supercar levels" of body stiffness from an all-new platform being developed at a new engineering base in Warwickshire.

The 5 is the first Polestar car to be developed in the UK, as well as the first developed by Polestar for Polestar", rather than derived from a Volvo base, according to vehicle engineering director Steve Swift.

The 5's body is constructed chiefly from bonded aluminium, with other sections made from hot-formed, cold-formed, diecast and extruded aluminium.

It's this bonded aluminium construction that affords the car "supercar levels of torsional stiffness, which is fundamental to class-leading ride and handling dynamics", said Polestar UK chief engineer Dave Kane.

UK R&D boss Pete Allen added that a goal for the 5 is to "deliver best-in-class levels of dynamics, and that starts with the structure".

To that end, the 5's body offers "carbon fibre levels of torsional stiffness, like a two-door sports model".

Discussions are under way to establish exactly how to tune the 5's stiff underpinnings to give it its dynamic character.

"It's still to be confirmed where it sits," said Swift. "We're looking for sophistication, rather than to take a Volvo and make it handle (like a Polestar).

"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."

The Porsche Taycan is an obvious rival to the 5, and Polestar is understood to have one at its MIRA facility for benchmarking purposes.