Wednesday 25 March 2020

New EV production begins in China amid coronavirus outbreak

Owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding and operated by Volvo Cars, the Luqiao plant in China has launched the production of a new electric vehicle (EV) named the Polestar 2 - its launch comes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Polestar 2, the first EV to be produced by the facility, will be equipped with a 78kWh battery pack which enables a range of 292 miles and will be 'the world’s first car' to feature a built-in infotainment system powered by Android, featuring Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Google Play Store.

Deliveries to customers are due to begin in the summer of 2020, starting in Europe and followed by China and North America.

Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, said: "The world is facing enormous upheaval in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. We start production now under these challenging circumstances, with a strong focus on the health and safety of our people.

"This is a great achievement and the result of huge efforts from the staff in the factory and the team securing the supply chain. I have a huge amount of respect for the entire team – thanks to them.”