Details are slim, but the second generation of Polestar's compact luxury EV sedan is coming. Here's what to expect

Polestar may have been kicked out of the United States, but the company still has grandiose ambitions to be a dominant player in Europe’s premium electric vehicle space. Next year, it will unveil the second-generation Polestar 2, an all-electric sedan aimed squarely at the BMW i3 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class Electric.

The current Polestar 2 dates back to 2016, one year before Polestar was established as a dedicated manufacturer of EVs. It began life as the Volvo Concept 40.2 and was then slightly updated for production, eventually premiering in road-going guise at the start of 2019. When it hit the market, many described it as a Tesla Model 3 killer, although sales have never come close to matching the Tesla.

Read: Polestar Is Reworking Its Interiors Before The Screen Backlash Grows

The electric vehicle market has also developed rapidly since the 2’s launch, and what was once a class-leading sedan has started to feel outdated. The new car, teased earlier this year, won’t just look different, but it will also bring with it a host of new technologies.

A New Platform And A New Look

Underpinning the second-gen Polestar 2 will be a flexible new platform that can support several different vehicles, including the mid-size 7 SUV due to launch in 2028. Speaking with Auto Express, Polestar’s head of driving dynamics Joakin Rydholm revealed that lessons learned during the development of the new Polestar 5 will also influence the 2.

“We will beat [the new i3]; that we must,” he declared. “We have learned a lot of things during [the development of Polestar 5]; the active dampers, the steering – that’s something you bring with you, and we have in mind when we do the next projects.”

An 800-volt electrical architecture will enable quick charging, although it remains to be seen if it’ll support DC speeds of up to 400 kW like the BMW i3. There’s no word on what kind of power we can expect, or what kind of driving range Polestar is targeting, but the i3 can travel up to 559 miles (900 km) on a charge, so that gives Polestar something to target.

The design of the new 2 will also be quite different than the outgoing model. A teaser shows the sedan will sit lower and wider than its predecessor, while sporting daytime running lights similar in shape to other Polestar models, including the Polestar 4 and Polestar 5.