Electric vehicle makers receive sky-high valuations these days. Polestar, an EV unit within Volvo of Sweden, has a celestial moniker but a more grounded approach. It already produces vehicles — something highly valued start-ups such as Lucid cannot say. Increasing output will require more capital. Polestar would like to raise the money from public markets.
This hope is not some distant twinkle, despite the recent derating of US-quoted EV makers. The group has the backing of China’s Geely Group, parent of both Geely Autos and Volvo Cars itself. Geely’s factories in China and Volvo’s in South Carolina could be used to make new EVs. In April, Polestar tapped Chinese and South Korean investors for $550m.
Polestar also has a better record than most EV start-ups. It originally developed petrol-guzzling performance cars for Volvo’s racing team. In recent years it has changed its focus to powerful electric SUVs. It sold 10,000 of these vehicles last year, most of them in Europe.