In a sign of how hungry the public is to get their hands on full electric vehicles (and how much the predicted Osbourne Effect has likely come into play) Polestar secured 2,000 reservations for its Polestar 2 battery-electric vehicle (BEV) in the first hours in South Korea, and more than 4,000 within the first week.
These reservations require a deposit of around $A1200, so it seems these potential buyers are quite serious in their intentions.
South Korea is Polestar’s newest market – and the 19th market worldwide where Polestar cars are available. (This is in line with Polestar’s ambition to be present in at least 30 markets by 2023 and to grow to selling 290,000 cars per year by 2025).
To quote the (rather pleased) head of Polestar Korea, Jongsung Ham: “This overwhelming response in such a short space of time is incredible and we would like to thank everyone for their great interest in Polestar 2, the first Polestar vehicle to be launched in South Korea.
“We have great support from our colleagues at Polestar headquarters in Sweden and will work hard to deliver this car in a smooth way to all our enthusiastic new customers.”
For those who have not yet heard of Polestar and the Polestar 2 – Polestar is the all-electric sub-brand of Volvo and the Polestar 2 is their first all-electric car, sharing the same platform and mechanicals as the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
(For more info on the Polestar 2 – you can read my first-impressions article here, and this review by Bridie Schmidt here, and for info on the progress of Australian orders, see Bridie’s article here).
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.