► Polestar 7: the first details
► Will be a ‘premium compact SUV’
► Expected to launch from 2027
The Polestar 7 electric crossover is being fast-tracked by new management and has leapfrogged the Polestar 6 electric roadster as a strategic priority, the new chief executive has told CAR.
New Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller said the Polestar 7 will be an incremental model and not replace the 2, as has been reported elsewhere. ‘Compact SUVs are where the market is at, especially in Europe,’ he said. ‘It’s the segment to go for… Size wise, it’s between Volvo EX30 and EX40. This is where the heart of the market is.
‘Very few real premium companies are there; there’s a lot of mass-market [rivals]. But we feel this is perfect, it’s a big profit pool and a big volume pool.’
A new group platform will underpin the Polestar 7
Expect the very latest tech on the Polestar 7: Lohscheller confirmed it would be cutting-edge, suggesting that the 800-volt electrical architecture for rapid charging and a long range would be deployed, along with the latest digital tech for over-the-air updates.
‘Now we will bring the Polestar 7 on a new group architecture. I will not tell you if it is a Volvo or Geely or in between. Let’s call it a new group architecture.’
This is significant: Lohscheller revealed that every new model conceived after the Polestar 7 would use the same hardware, so this sets the template for the rest of the decade and well into the 2030s, bringing to an end the fragmented platform strategy that’s seen four different architectures used in five years. ‘All the cars which come afterwards come on exactly this platform. Unfortunately, it takes time but we have a really consistent platform strategy. It has many advantages: complexity is reduced, costs are reduced, most likely duties will be avoided in Europe, but – most importantly – we get the very latest technology.’
Polestar 7: what we know
Polestar had announced at its 2025 Strategy Update that it would launch a new ‘premium compact SUV’ ‘in the coming years.’ Details are light but, given Polestar’s place within the wider Geely group and the expected size of this new model, it’s likely the Polestar 7 will share a lot with the Volvo EX30 and Smart #1, which today use the SEA2 platform. That allows rear and all-wheel drive models with high power outputs and fast charging speeds.
As for the look – don’t expect anything too outrageously different from the clean, cool looks of the rest of the Polestar range. ‘Polestar is known for its progressive design, with each car standing out and creating its own buzz – so too will Polestar 7,’ says new head of design, Philipp Römers.
‘It’s incredibly exciting to bring Polestar’s design ethos to a new segment. Polestar 7 will be everything our customers expect from us, both in terms of design and performance.’
For context, Römers designed the Audi A6 e-Tron and Q6 e-Tron, as well as other Volkswagen Group models like the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf. Note, however, that new CEO Lohscheller has directed his fresh design appointment to make the cars ‘a little more confident.’
‘Don’t expect a radical change. I want a bit more confidence and I want to highlight the performance element.’
Where will the Polestar 7 be built?
The company has already confirmed that the 7 will be produced in Europe – a first for Polestar. ‘With production already in place in the USA, South Korea and China, Polestar continues to strengthen its global position with a well-balanced international manufacturing network,’ the brand said when it announced its new business plan in January 2025.
The CEO refused to confirm where in Europe it would be built. ‘I need three to four months months to finalise things,’ Lohscheller told CAR in one of his first interviews since taking over in September 2024. The move brings local production for Polestar’s biggest market, a network of local suppliers from existing Volvo and group relationships and no risk of duties if the prospect of tariffs raises its ugly head.
Lohscheller declined to give an official launch date but, as part of Polestar’s future business plan and its aim to be profitable by 2027, we’d expect it to arrive in 2027 – ahead of the Polestar 6, whose market launch has now been pushed back to later this decade.