Polestar reveals unusual succession plans for its electric 2

If there’s one thing we know about Polestar, it’s that the Swedish electric car maker likes to keep things literal. Especially when it comes to names.

The Chinese-backed Volvo spin-off started out with the 1, a hybrid GT that showed off its high-voltage cables through a window in the boot. Next came a switch to all-electric and the 2, which will be followed this year by the 3, a large SUV, and the 4, a sleek saloon with no rear windscreen. Then there will be the Porsche Taycan-rivalling 5 and a convertible sports car called the 6.

After all that, and likely in 2027, Polestar plans to start all over again with a replacement to the 2 that’ll be called the 7. Still with us? Good.

This tidbit of product planning info was revealed to Autocar by Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath, who said his company “will not replace the Polestar 2 with a Polestar 2”. Confirming Polestar’s ongoing plan of naming its cars chronologically instead of in relation to their size, price or performance, Ingenlath added: “It will be the Polestar 7…What type of car and how we will do it, we can discuss when it’s time.”

He also said how, although the new car will occupy the same position as the 2 in Polestar’s lineup – so it’ll be a sort of SUV-crossover type thing aimed at the mass market and competing with the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y – it’ll not be restricted by sharing a name with its predecessor. This gives Polestar the opportunity to make a fresh start, instead of repeatedly updating and improving the same basic car.

It may sound counterintuitive – it really is the opposite strategy to that employed by the Volkswagen Golf, BMW 3-Series and Porsche 911 – but it makes sense, especially given how Polestar is only a few years old. Ingenlath continued: “As much as we might build a very similar car, because it has a different number we won’t have this natural trap where we’re boxed into that concept of what the car had been.”

In a nod to how technology firms tend to stick to the same naming strategy, no matter how large the numbers get, the Polestar boss said: “At some point, you get into a strange situation when you’re into double-digit generations and it gets really questionable.”

We feel you, Thomas. Anyone losing track of what the latest generation iPhone or Samsung Galaxy is will no doubt understand this concern.