Polestar 1 road tests

The Hällered Proving Ground offers a wide variety of roads for all sorts of vehicle testing. Steep inclines, hairpin turns, extreme off-road conditions, Hällered has it all. They’ve even recreated roads from around the world, down to the smallest detail: a country road in England, a Los Angeles highway, and more.

A map of Europe with pins placed i different countries.

But as thoroughly designed as it is, it can’t replace the real world. That’s why Polestar engineers and technicians are taking the Polestar 1 verification prototype (VP) cars throughout Europe, to get the best results possible.

Jokkmokk and Arvidsjaur in northern Sweden provided the perfect conditions for testing different drive modes, brake sensitivity, oversteer/understeer, steering software, and driving in deep snow. Steering software was also calibrated in sunny Barcelona, from which the Polestar 1 headed to Frankfurt for public road testing and CarPlay app optimisation. The Polestar 1 was also driven from Sweden to northern England (via Germany and Holland) in order to test suspension, bringing along Öhlins to perform on-site adjustments and measurements.

All in all, the Polestar 1 VP cars have driven a total of 10,000 km throughout Europe this year alone. The upcoming trip from Sweden to St. Moritz (via the autobahn) to test engine software will see the Polestar 1 accumulating even more kilometres, and invaluable real-world experience.

Related

Putting the matter to rest: Polestar 4 digital rearview mirror in snow and in the dark

Our latest film showcasing the new digital rear-view mirror of Polestar 4 caused quite a stir. As is expected with new technology, we were flooded with questions regarding its functionality and durability in other environments. Our product gurus Brent Ellis, Head of Product Communications, and Joakim Rydholm, Head of Chassis Development, took an opportunity while in northern Sweden to put the matters to rest.