Polestar's Electric Super-Roadster Isn’t Dead; Its Platform May Spawn Cayenne Fighter

• The Polestar 6 roadster has not been canceled, and nearly all key engineering work has already done.
• All that's left to do is to finish the custom back seats and folding hardtop.
• The bespoke bonded-aluminum platform used for the in-production Polestar 5 and paused Polestar 6 could support more halo models, including something closer to a Lamborghini Urus rival.

Asked if the Polestar 6 was "95 percent" complete, Lambert did not dispute such a figure, but said he would "hesitate to say it is 100 percent." But with all key hardware now finished, the Polestar 6 is effectively waiting in the wings and can be finished at any moment. 

Aside from the removal of the 5 sedan's row-two "foot garage" battery cutouts, Lambert confirmed the 112-kWh pack from the Polestar 5 would remain "exactly the same" for the 6, while adding that "the motors [and] the suspension are exactly the same … the front half of the cabin is essentially the same."

The 6's story began with the lavish O2 concept of 2022 (the images you see here are of that concept). Polestar confirmed production later that year for a 2026 launch while selling 500 reservations for an LA Concept edition. Slots sold out within a week, with a $25,000 refundable deposit required based on an indicated price of $200,000.

But Polestar's priorities have changed. Besieged by tariffs and slower-than-expected EV demand, the company is now chasing profitability by bringing forward affordable models: the next-generation Polestar 2 and a new 7 compact SUV, both of which use Geely architectures.

"The key for us is to deliver [the 7 and 2] correctly, drive the business forward, and then be in a position to do something else after," said Lambert.

A truly bespoke Polestar SUV to take on Porsche and more

While the Polestar 6 is set to become the halo model if the financials stack up, a bonded-aluminum crossover to take on Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley SUVs is also possible. Lambert confirmed PPA was developed "for further use" and that a decision to develop further models was "still a possibility."

Whether Polestar can reuse PPA for new models without having to reopen dedicated R&D facilities is an open question, as the Swedish outfit laid off most of the talent it poached from Aston Martin, Lotus and McLaren to build the platform.

Still, Polestar is incentivized to maximize returns from PPA. A logical candidate would be a low coupe-SUV or wagon-style crossover that could be a better fit for U.S. tastes than a sedan like Polestar 5 while making the most of PPA's stiffness.

There is a catch: The Polestar 5 is built in China, and it remains unclear whether it will make it to the U.S. thanks to the ever-changing tariff situation. The problem would likely extend to the Polestar 6 or an SUV derivative, but neither model would be likely to go into production in the next two years, by which time the tariff environment could look different.