Polestar’s new show car, the Formula 2030 concept, isn’t just a taste of stylistic things to come from the Sweden-based brand, but a wheeled manifesto for the next generation of Polestar design. Back at the start of 2025, former Audi exterior designer Philipp Römers took the reigns as Head of Polestar Design, following on from Maximilian Missoni.
‘I had spent some time thinking about my plans for Polestar, a strategy,’ Römers tells us, explaining how the Polestar 4 SUV model was his first priority. ‘The work on the concept started back in February,’ he explains, ‘once we had sorted out our overall strategy, technology roadmap and product plans, including the confirmation of the new generation Polestar 2 and the forthcoming Polestar 7.’
The Polestar Formula 2030 offers a departure from the company’s aesthetic orthodoxy in several ways. Clearly not a direct equivalent of the 2 or the 7 (which will be a much smaller car), Formula 2030 is also distinctly different from the Polestar 3 and 4 SUV and the 4 and 5 models.
It stands in a niche all of its own, a four-door, low slung sporting estate, more akin to the Volvo P1800 estate or even the Saab 9-X Air Concept from 2008. Most importantly, it’s not an SUV, nor does it have any crossover elements.
From the coach rear doors to the clamshell boot, the visor-like windshield, wraparound glasshouse and redefined light signatures, the Formula 2030 sets out a new and distinct aesthetic for the brand. Certain elements are carried forward – it’s by no means a reset – but the overall feel is more lithe, dynamic and technical than the first tranche of models. As Römers says, the show car represents ‘the essence of the brand – it’s the physical expression of our corporate strategy and really guides us to the future.’
That future has to include more sales. ‘We’re focusing now on volume cars to make Polestar more accessible,’ says Römers, ‘the 5 and the 3 are really niche cars but we also need to go into volume segments. But if you were to do a sports car in the electric world, a practical, compact one would really make sense.’
Although the designer reckons Polestar could build such a machine, especially given the scope offered by access to parent company Geely’s technology, it clearly isn’t a priority right now. Nevertheless, Polestar has historically only built concept cars that hew incredibly closely to their production successors; Polestars 1 and 2 both started life as Volvo concept cars.
That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. Crucially, the new generation Polestar 2 had already been signed off before this concept was started and while Römers admits that certain elements of the 2 and 7 are previewed here, especially the front and rear forms as well as the interior, a like-for-like production car is not yet on the cards, at least not before the decade’s end.
The interior marks another move away from current Polestar thinking. ‘This concept highlights that we are a performance brand,’ says Römers, ‘we want to become more driver focused. At the same time, we also wanted to rebalance our screen set up by enlarging the driver’s display and creating quick access to functions – buttons do the job best. We came up with the idea of a seamless blend of digital and analogue.’
While the driver gets a curved 20-inch HyperDIM, or Driver Information Monitor, directly behind the yoke-like wheel, the Formula 2030’s centre console cascades through the middle of the car, with a gradated graphic effect. It contains a pop-up screen and a physical drive selector culminating in eight Teenage Engineering-style buttons and dials set on a flush panelled backdrop. The idea is that these physical controls are user configurable. ‘We wanted to bring our current customisable screen gadgets to the physical world,’ the designer explains.
There are other stories contained the Formula 2030, not least Polestar’s ongoing role as a guiding light in the quest for auto industry accountability and sustainability. The use of low-emission galvanised steel for structural parts – left exposed in the concept – is just one example of how the company is doing the legwork to make vital materials and processes far more efficient in the future. ‘It’s not just about the car,’ Römers reiterates, ‘but the whole strategy.’