Polestar has started production of its first pure electric car from the brand manufactured in Luqiao, China, despite the outbreak of COVID-19.
Delivery will be first rolled out in Europe followed by China and North America.
“The world is facing enormous upheaval in the face of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar. “We start production now under these challenging circumstances with a strong focus on the health and safety of our people.”
The Luqiao factory is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding and operated by Volvo Cars and will build the vehicles from the beginning phases through roll off from the assembly line. Final pre-orders for the electric vehicle are now being accepted.
Volvo spun off the Polestar brand about three years ago with the idea of creating the brand to compete against other luxury electric car manufacturers such as Tesla Motors. The Polestar 2 pure electric car was revealed last year and features all-wheel drive, 292 miles of range, 78 kWh battery pack and built-in infotainment systems powered by Android and voice command via Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play Store.
Polestar expects to begin shipments of the vehicle in the summer of 2020 in Europe and later in the other regions.