Polestar Wants Some Help With Its Next Great Design

Polestar may be knocking it out of the park with concepts like the O2 Convertible and Precept, which will eventually become the Polestar 5, but that doesn’t mean the Swedish EV company can’t look for outside sources of design inspiration. The company launched a design competition back in 2020 for students and professional designers that has just been renewed for its third year. Last year, the design winners included a futuristic garage and a concept vehicle that cleans the air as it drives.

The previous competitions had the themes Pure and Progressive, while this year’s theme is Performance. Perhaps this means we’ll see more sports cars like the O2, though Polestar says all designs must “tell the advanced technical story that enables this in a sustainable way.”

“I believe this year’s Performance theme will capture the imagination of a design community that has responded extremely creatively to our Design Contest thus far,” said Juan Pablo Bernal, Interior Design Manager at Polestar. “I’ve been truly inspired by the array of submissions that continue to harness the essence of our brand in such a captivating way. We expect this year will be no different – the paradigm has shifted from high-consumption performance of the 20th century, so we are looking for design ideas that embody that shift.”

Last year’s winner had their design turned into a 1:5 scale model, but Polestar is going much bigger this year. The winning design will be turned into a life-size 1:1 model that will be displayed at the Shanghai Motor Show in April 2023.

All submissions must be in by August 31st as a 2D rendering with 10 professional and 10 student designers shortlisted. Five professional and five student finalists will be announced on November 1st out of the shortlisted candidates before the winners are announced on November 11th. Polestar will crown two winners, one for interior and the other for exterior design. Only the exterior winner will have their design turned into a 1:1 model, though Polestar notes it will only produce a scale model if the design is “larger than a car.”

We look forward to seeing more of the designs later this year.