Polestar 6 is a dedicated electric sports car that will start production, but it is not clear when it will be launched. Polestar 6 was one of the company's clearest intentions - to be a dedicated electric sports car aimed squarely at the Porsche 718 EV. Polestar had already confirmed the production plan, but the project now appears to have slipped the priority list, leaving its timing uncertain.
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According to Graeme Lambert, boss of Polestar global communications, who spoke to us, Polestar 6 has not yet been fully signed off, but is nearing the end of its development program. Major engineering work seems to have been completed and some of the remaining items still need final development. He pointed out that the folding hard-top roof and rear seats still needed work, but he said they had the resources to complete the design in-house.
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Polestar still says that by 2028 it plans to launch 4 new models, but 6 may no longer be part of that short-term cadence. The lineup can instead include Polestar 5, the new version of Polestar 4, the next generation Polestar 2, and the compact Polestar 7 crossover. In other words, Polestar already has a complete product pipeline without counting 6.
Lambert went on to say just how similar Polestar 6 is to the 5 sharing the PPA platform. It is a shorter, open-top version of its car, with essentially the same 112 kwh battery pack, the same motor, and suspension architecture. But even with the development on the seemingly home stretch, finishing Polestar 6 did not sound like a priority. It is unclear whether the final production version will be revealed this year in accordance with Polestar's previously announced plans for 6. It seams likely the production will be pushed back.
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When Polestar 6 reaches production, it will be built in China along with Polestar 5. This would cause major problems for the U.S. market, where Chinese-made EVs are subject to 100% import duties. The same issue has already prevented Chinese-made Polestar 5 from being sold in the United States, although there should be no problems with sales in neighboring Canada, which reduces tariffs, but essentially opens the gates for all Chinese cars. Polestar opened the order book for the 2+2 drop top, and the first 500 launch version of the car sold out very quickly. This indicated to Polestar that there was demand for such a car, but it seems that it was not enough to give preference to its production.
What appears to be at the top of Polestar's list are SUVs based on the same PPA platform. Unlike some Geely Group architectures, the PPA is Polestar's own platform that can support larger electric SUVs aimed at the Porsche Cayenne Electric. For Polestar, a model of that kind will almost certainly be more commercially problematic than a low-volume roadster. The question is whether it will happen soon, and whether a Chinese-made version can realistically reach the United States under the current tariff regime. SUV comparable to the Cayenne, however, is at least two years away, and the tariff situation can change during that time.
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